PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week 2014 Day 1
The pioneering Pakistan Fashion Design Council [PFDC] and L’Oréal Paris, the world’s leading beauty brand, presented Day-1 of the fourth consecutive PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week 2014 [#PLBW2014] – a platform that endeavors to define and present contemporary and traditional Pakistani Bridal fashion, make-up and hair trends, fusing to create the ‘look’ for the 2014 – 2015 bridal season.
The first day of Bridal Week opened with couturier HSY, followed by Sania Maskatiya and showcases by Asifa & Nabeel, Saira Shakira and Karma Red respectively as summarised below. Make-up for Day-1 of PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week 2014 was done by the creative team at Maram & Aabroo for womenswear and Khawar Riaz for menswear.
This year, the PFDC L’Oréal Paris team also take bridal hair and make-up trends to a whole new level where the bridal week make-up teams exhibited their interpretation of bridal hair and make-up trends for the season using L’Oréal Makeup Designer Paris products. In addition to this, L’Oréal Paris launched an exclusive PLBW Bridal Make-Up Kit, which can be used to recreate favourite make-up looks from PLBW 2014. In continuation of the trend set at the debut PLBW by the brand, L’Oréal Paris will also be publishing their signature newsletters each day of Bridal Week showcasing looks created by the PLBW make-up teams using L’Oréal Makeup Designer Paris products. Along with this; special editions on Day-2 and Day-3 of the Event will feature the revolutionary “Revitalift Laser X3” anti-ageing skin care range and custom content pertaining to “Bridal Season Hair styles” with L’Oréal Paris hair care and Excellence Wild Ombrés hair color range.
Indeed the success of PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week continues to prompt private sector associates to grow in their engagement of the platform to launch new products, marketing campaigns and promotional activities with a common vision with the PFDC of developing and promoting Pakistan’s fashion industry. In this same spirit, this year the PFDC welcomes Official Jewellery Sponsors Waseem Jewellers, one of Pakistan’s premier creators and masters of the art of jewellery since 1979. Also new to PLBW are Rose Petal, who are considered industry leaders of design and innovation in sanitary paper products. Continuing the tradition of using the PLBW platform to launch campaigns, Rose Petal will be celebrating Pakistani Art & Fashion through the introduction of a new range of paper products named ‘Rose Petal Canvas’ at PLBW. Warid Telecommunication also makes its PLBW debut as the Official Telecom Partner and Black Carpet Host for the platform. Leading real estate and planned communities authority New Lahore City, a project of the Rafi Group, are also partnering with PFDC for the first time at PLBW 2014. In continuation of their support for the platform, leading global courier company FedEx – GSP Pakistan Gerry’s International will be participating as PLBW’s Official Logistics Partner, Diet Pepsi as PLBW’s Official Beverage Partners and Bank Al-Falah as the Official Banking Partners. Bank Al-Falah, Warid Telecom, Rose Petal, FedEx – GSP Pakistan Gerry’s International and New Lahore City will all be hosting a custom-designed VIP lounge at the event.
PFDC has also introduced a dedicated Media Relations Department which is headed by the Council’s Official Media Relations Manager Haiya Bokhari. The new Media Relations department will also have a dedicated space at PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week to facilitate members of the press at the venue of the bridal fashion platform. PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week [#PLBW2014] will be produced by the in-house PFDC production team with show production and choreography by HSY Events, front stage management by Maheen Kardar Ali, backstage management by Product 021, Sara Shahid of Sublime by Sara as the official spokesperson for the PFDC, logistics and operations by Eleventh Retail, digital support by Pakka Papita, photography by Faisal Farooqui and the team at Dragonfly, Hum TV as the Official Media Partners, CityFM89 as the Official Radio Partners with all media management by Lotus Client Management & Public Relations.
Bridal Showcase: HSY
PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week 2014 Day-1 was opened by iconic designer, HSY, participating at the PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week platform for the fourth consecutive time with his new luxury bridal couture collection titled “Divine.Decadence”.
The inspiration for the collection stems from the designer’s travels and from his reflections of his 20 years in the industry. As its name reflects, “Divine.Decadence” is a manifestation of HSY’s vision regarding contradictions in our society. Hence, the collection endeavored to fuse two sources of inspiration, conflicts and challenges, within the designer’s own journey and his own vision of these contradictions particularly with respect to women and the way they are viewed in our society.
The collection consisted of two distinct parts; “Divine.Decadence”, each represented by a contrasting color theme within the same collection. “The Divine” aspect of the collection was manifested through shades of nature and predominately featured aqueous shades. “The Decadence” facet of the collection was based in darker color palettes; including reds, golds and blacks. The collection had both men’s wear and women’s wear pieces and showcased a wide spectrum of pieces including suits, jumpsuits, tunics and gowns. The Divine pieces were based in hand embroidered silks and jacquards embellished with silver crystals. The Decadence pieces predominantly featured western stylized bridal wear including gowns and other separates. HSY’s showcase also featured the Forman Symphonic Strings, an ensemble of male and female student violinists from Forman Christian College University, headed by conductor-violinist Hamza Islam Butt. Indeed, the designer’s showcase marked the first time that the ensemble of male and female violinists were performing together on such a diverse live platform and is testament to designer HSY’s efforts to empower Pakistani talent from all walks of life.
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Bridal Showcase: Sania Maskatiya
Following HSY, the coveted House of Sania Maskatiya showcased an exclusive bridal collection titled, ‘Ara-Ornaments’ at the 4th PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week 2014. ‘Ara-Ornaments’ by Sania Maskatiya draws inspiration from the art of ornamentation and features decorative motifs and techniques used over centuries in signature Sania Maskatiya cuts. This was the second time that Sania Maskatiya participated at PLBW. With intricate floral patterns juxtaposed with geometrics, the collection presented a unique take on bridal couture that aspires to appeal to the modern bride by merging celebration with sophistication, and whimsy with elegance, staying true to the brands’ signature aesthetic of contrasting materials and patterns. ‘Ara-Ornaments’ presented an array of cotton nets, Indian nets, lamé, exclusive digital prints, worked with exquisite resham, zardozi, gota, and pearl work. ‘Ara-Ornaments’ Sania Maskatiya had collaborated with Shafiq Habib for accessories/Jewelry and Charles and Keith for footwear for the brand’s showcase at PLBW.
Hot off the ramp, Ara-Ornaments will be available to view and order with designer Sania Maskatiya herself, on Wednesday 1th October, from 11am – 6pm at the Sania Maskatiya Lahore flagship store on MM Alam road. Furthermore, the brands’ festive Eid collection will also be available at the brand’s Karachi & Lahore stores as of Wednesday 1th October with the Sania Maskatiya design team present to assist with styling advice and outfit choices.
Bridal Showcase: Asifa & Nabeel
Asifa & Nabeel’s collection for PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week 2014 was titled “Meena-Maniratna” inspired by the reel life and real life of Meena Kumari. This collection comprised of shades and motifs of the jewellery worn by the acclaimed Meena Kumari in her films. The bridal collection of womenswear was a modern interpretation of that traditional era and manifested the richness of the luxurious lifestyle of the beautiful Meena Kumari through the use of dynamic colours such as tangerine, gold and harbour grey with traditional thread work, dabka, pearls, stones and chandi pati on pure chiffons, silk, organza and jamawars with layering, fusion cuts, straight and tapered, ‘Aay-look’ and flared pieces with H-K-F lengths.
Bridal Showcase: Saira Shakira
Following Asifa & Nabeel, Saira Shakira’s bridal collection for PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week 2014 was titled “A Midsummer Night’s Dream” after Shakespeare’s play, as the designer duo believes that no one has portrayed love in all its glory and dimensions better than him. Saira Shakira experimented with delicate and sheer fabrics such as nets and laces with cuts that were predominantly eastern with lehngas, kaftans and a sari embellished with a mixture of dabka kora, nakshi along with thread work, beading and Swarovski crystals. The colour palette included midnight blues, pinks and mints for the precious fairies and plums purples and lilacs for royalty.
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Bridal Showcase: Karma Red
Karma Red led by design director Maheen Kardar Ali showcased “The Lotus Raj Collection” at the finale of Day 1 of PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week 2014. Inspired by the subcontinental’s essence and identity comprising of the monsoon, the exquisitely diverse flora ranging from the melancholy nargis, the velvety heady gulab, the sweet rainy frangipani and the fragrant pure motiya, the grand majestic fauna, the classic tea trolley, the sparkly independence day firecrackers, old family homes’ courtyards, the iconic romantic cities, the quintessential traditions, the history of our childhoods and the memories of the generations past, “The Lotus Raj Collection” consisted of five capsule collections: ‘RajKumari’ which set the mood as strong, glamorous, flirty and fabulous; ‘Uns’ which takes its inspiration from the magic and detail of flora, first love and the vanilla sky of the monsoons, beautiful, serene and fairy tale like; ‘Aatish’ inspired by ‘Thakuranis’, warrior queens, age old precious metals and fiery firecrackers; ‘Saj Dhaj’ inspired from the traditions, colours and adornments of the subcontinent and ‘Raj’ which embodied passion, obsession, pure beauty and the celebration of coming full circle. The brand’s showcase also featured children wearing customized pieces from the “The Lotus Raj Collection” who walked the ramp along with the industry’s leading runway models.
