Elan

PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2013 – ELAN Runway Review

Elan’s Ode to a nightingale was one of the most stellar luxury pret collections to go down the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2013 runway. Backed by her very strong & unique aesthetic, Khadijah Shah created a series of Chinoserie-style outfits heavy on Chinese artistic influences & oriental prints. From Red Carpet favorites like kimono wrap dresses & maticulously crafted full skirts to the more relaxed evening-wear separates, Khadijah experimented with a range of silhouettes most designers would steer clear of. The best part ? The embellishment was limited to let the cuts & prints do most of the talking. Loved the bulbous gold detailing on Cybil’s shoulders & cuff accents. Loved it All !

Elan PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2013

Elan PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2013

Elan PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2013

Elan PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2013

Elan PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2013

Elan PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2013

One of most ooh-ed & aah-ed outfits of the collection on Mehreen Syed below. Paper magazine’s Editors Meher Tareen & Samina Khan walking the walk at the end of the show.

Elan PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2013

Images Courtesy : Aamir Amjad Photography ,  Faisal Farooqui (Dragonfly)

At Samsung Galaxy Grand Launch – Humaima Malik in Elan

As the newly appointed ambassador of the Samsung Galaxy series, Humaima Malik attended the Samsung Galaxy Grand launch yesterday wearing a purple one-shouldered Elan dress. Waist up she looked nice – waist down was a different story altogether. The churidar under the dress stuck out like a sore thumb & the blingy footwear did no favor to her either. We would probably blame the designer for that – the dress itself was poorly designed & lacked the quintessential Elan aesthetics.  Not something one expects the Design Team at Elan to churn out. Whats you verdict ? Disagree?

Humaima Malik wearing Elan at the Samsung Galaxy Grand launch

Humaima Malik at the Samsung Galaxy Grand launch

Humaima Malik wearing Elan at the Samsung Galaxy Grand launch

Humaima Malik wearing Elan at the Samsung Galaxy Grand launch

Wearing her own : Khadijah Shah in Elan

To no one’s surprise, Khadijah Shah wore a bridal dress from her own label Élan at Kiran Chaudhry ‘s wedding reception. It was a fresh-off-the-runway dress from Elan’s  PFDC L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week 2012 collection. On someone else this would have seemed tad bit overwhleming for the event in question, but it’s Khadijah only who can manage to pull off a look so well. She looked gorgeous head-to-toe !

Not well-versed in Bag spotting but most certainly its a Chanel on her.

Elan bridal

Khadijah Shah wearing Elan at Kiran Chaudhry’s wedding reception

One small step, One giant leap : PFDC The Boulevard opens in New Delhi

PFDC The Boulevard Delhi

Inside PFDC The Boulevard New Delhi

We re excited to break this to you , more so because it brings us closer to the idea behind our blog i.e. bringing the best of Pakistani & Indian fashion on a single unique platform. PFDC (Pakistan Fashion Design Council) opened up it’s first flagship store in India, PFDC – The Boulevard at the South Extension market in New Delhi last night, introducing the best of Pakistani bridal & formal wear to it’s Indian consumers.  In what can be termed as a giant leap for cross-border fashion in both countries, the store promises to offer a wide range of designs, cuts, embroidery & colors to the Indian market.

As many as 18 designers from Pakistan are going to be stocking at the Boulevard including big names such as HSY(Hassan Sheheryar Yasin), Karma, Kamiar Rokni,  Elan , Sana Safinaz, Asifa & Nabeel, Fahad Hussayn, Nickie Nina, Shehla Chatoor , Nida Azwer, Ayesha Farook Hashwani, Feeha Jamshed, Umar Sayeed & Rizwan Beyg . (it does’nt get better than this :D )

Speaking about the idea behind the store, Mini Bindra who’s the brainchild of this venture said :

“The Pakistani cuts, colours and styling are very different from what we see here in India. For example, they use lots of ecru and cream in their bridals, which we don’t get to see here in India…….These designs would add another new concept to their wardrobe. Saris are always in vogue in India, whereas Pakistani fusion shalwar-kurta is relevant for anywhere in the world. The switch can be a starting point I feel”. 

Sehyr Saigal , chairman PFDC added:

“We have a commonality between India and Pakistan in terms of our spoken language, culture, history and heritage. So there is a huge interest in each other”

The launch event was held at The Hyatt Regency & included the who’s who of Pakistani fashion Industry in attendance including Fahad Hussayn, Kamiar Rokni, Nabila , Qurat-al-Ain Balouch,  Mahira Khan & Sonya Jehan.

Here’s your sneak peak into the fashion show held as part of the launch event. Watch this space for more.

Sana Safinaz at PFDC Boulevard Delhi

Sana Safinaz at PFDC Boulevard Delhi Fashion Show

PFDC Boulevard Delhi Fashion show

PFDC Boulevard Delhi Fashion show

Fahad Hussayn PFDC Boulevard Delhi Fashion Show

Fahad Hussayn for PFDC Boulevard Delhi Fashion Show

Nickie Nina & Umar Sayeed for PFDC Boulevard Fashion Show

Nickie Nina (R) & Umar Sayeed (L) for PFDC Boulevard Fashion Show

PFDC Boulevard Delhi Fashion show

PFDC Boulevard Delhi Fashion show

Images Courtesy : Vogue India, Ramp images: Dwaipayan Mazumdar

Labels e-store – Your favorite designers now a Click Away

Labels e-store

Labels e-store

By Anber Javed:

It was almost a month back when I first came to know about LABELS’ upcoming venture, this being another first by Pakistan’s premiere multi-designer retail store. It was the launch of Labels’ e-store, a one of a kind online store retailing fine clothing, accessories, hand bags and precious jewellery from a select group of Pakistani designers essentially catering to a global clientele. My first reaction ? As someone who truly believes in & understands the power of strong online presence in the global fashion market , I was absolutely ecstatic to hear about it. And as someone who does’nt have access to all the industry biggies in my hometown, I was relieved !

With Zahir Rahimtoola’s(CEO Labels) vision at the helm, Pakistani high end fashion is now available to everyone ; an eclectic mix of classic & chic styles that are just a click away. The e-store houses some of the most coveted designers of the Pakistani fashion industry , at the same time providing a great platform to the bright young talent to market themselves internationally.

With its beta version launched just recently, we are excited to know whats more ‘in store’ for us. While collections from some of the industry whos whos have already made it to the portal, there are others which lie in wait to be launched soon.

Enlisted below are AWA’s 7 reasons why the e-store experience is worth giving a try :-

1. Shopping high end designers has never been this easy in Pakistan , with outfits from almost 40+ designers viewable via an easy to skim interface.

2. 3 Days delivery time , locally & internationally – how bloody fast is that :D

3. Track the location of your order through LABELS website as the integrated DHL’s API provide you with real time tracking.

4. Cash on delivery.

5. Refine your Search by Size and/or Price.

6. The prices are enlisted in both PKR & USD . Relieved for saving yourselves from the math, eh?

7.  Minor alterations and addition of sleeves (to dresses without sleeves) is done at minimal costs.

Enough said Ladies. Here’s the Link to the e-store : https://www.labelsestore.com/ .

Check out some of the brilliant pieces by Sania Maskatiya & Sanam Chaudhri , & stay on the lookout for Ayesha Khurram & Elan by Khadijah Shah.

Happy e-shopping ! :)

Ditto – Aamina Sheikh in Elan

After Khadijah Shah, it was the same navy embellished gown by Elan for Aamina Sheikh at the world premiere of her movie Seedlings at NYCIFF 2012. Love the fact that I keep bumping into one of my personal favorite pieces from Elan’s PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2012 collection, stylized differently every single time. Aamina wore her’s well with simple styling (see if you can spot the necklace) & letting the dress do most of the talking. Especially the fact that she made the whole look scream fun and effortless.

Between all three versions , here’s our list of most to least preferred : Runway , Aamina, Khadijah.

Agreed?

Lamha-Seedlings cast at New York City International Film Festival 2012

Seedlings (Lamha) cast & crew after the world premiere & media session. (L to R) Gohar Rasheed, Mohib Mirza, Sonia Kay, Aamina Sheikh, Meher Jaffri, Mansoor Mujahid & Jagdaish K Rajput

Elan PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2012

Left: Elan PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2012, Right : Khadijah Shah

Best Dressed at Lux Style Awards 2012 – Sana in Zaheer Abbas

Probably the most surprising & unexpected appearance at the Lux Style Awards 2012 was Sana’s which should put (should have by now) all the models, designers & actresses to shame. For us, she was a clear winner in the rust Zaheer Abbas gown. Major props for adding the gold belt to break the monotony of the color. We re so glad someone from the film fraternity has finally stepped out of the stereotypical eastern-glamourama look and opted for a more sexy, stylish one instead.

We recall having reviewed the same Zaheer Abbas dress in one of AWA’s earliest posts. (Read the full article here). It might be our bias talking here, as we mentioned back then how eagerly we were waiting to see it on a Red Carpet (See the picture below). Wish come true eh? ;)

Sana at the Lux Style Awards 2012

Sana at the Lux Style Awards 2012

Zaheer Abbas - PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2012

Zaheer Abbas – PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week 2012

Kiran Chaudhry inside Paper Magazine Issue 5

Kiran Chaudhry inside Paper Magazine Issue 5