I’m overjoyed and giddy like a child on Christmas eve. As a Muslim, my year is punctuated with two religious festivals, or Eids. Eid-ul-Fitr ended the 30-day fasting in Ramadan two months ago, and Eid-ul-Adha – tomorrow – marks the end of the Hajj pilgrimage in Makkah with a sacrifice.
A sacrifice of meat is an emphasised ritual for the pilgrims, while Muslim families all over the world slaughter an animal to commemorate Prophet Abraham’s sacrifice, and distribute it to the poor nearby. This is the ultimate offering: giving your most …

Twelve senior year students from Asian Institute of Fashion Design (AIFD) of Iqra University displayed their collections at Grandeur, Zamzama on Friday, October 28.
The ‘AIFD Stitch and Craft Exhibition’, now an annual show, was attended by a large number of people, mostly students, helping to boost the confidence of designers who had put up their collections.
This time around the fashion students did not stick to a particular theme but focused their designs to cater to Eid shoppers. The exhibition — consisting of western and eastern dresses as well as their …

Chenone’s winter collection 2011-2012 for men and women is available on all its stores. Chenone offers a wide range of products such as children wear, menswear, foot wear and branded lawn for women.
Chenone’s winter collection 2011/2012 is full of interesting stylistic trends, which are carefully combined for fashioning maximum effect. Casual jackets, vibrant sweaters, cool t-shirts, denim, blazers and checkered shirts are key features of men’s collection. However, women’s wear by Chenone has both ethnic and modish element; contemporary attire comprising of jeans and tops while traditional wear of stylish …

“The exuberance of a body with rounded lines is much more alluring and sexy,” says Vogue Italia editor Franca Sozzani, an avid campaigner against the promotion of anorexia within the fashion industry.
Turning away from covers exhorting emaciated, skeletal women (who look as if they exist solely on a diet of air and ice-chips), Sozzani recently featured three plus-size models on Vogue Italia’s July issue, appropriately titled ‘Real Beauties’. Similarly, supermodels Coco Rocha and Tyra Banks actively raise their perfectly manicured hands against the prevalence of eating and body dysmorphic disorders …

With tickets selling like hot cakes, “Karachi: The Musical” is still going strong. Made For Stage Productions’ first original venture was showcased to the media on October 24 where the audience witnessed something ‘real’; something they could relate to the city where they reside.
No matter how superficial the image of Lyari is portrayed, the play made the audience proud because it was something original, lively and entertaining, if not flawless.
“Karachi: The Musical” is a story about a renowned boxing coach ‘Ghulam’ (Faraz Lodhi) who quits coaching after his boxer ‘Clement’ …

Nusrat Bhutto passed away in Dubai on October 23 at the age of 82. Bhutto, the widow of former Pakistani president and prime minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto (ZAB), had been suffering from cancer and Alzheimer’s disease. She had been living in Dubai since 1998 with her daughter Benazir and her grandchildren Bilawal, Bakhtawar and Aseefa, and had largely been kept out of public eye.
Nusrat Bhutto was known as a style icon, the personification of grace under pressure and a sharp politician in her own right. She was ZAB’s second wife, …

Republic – Blaak Chrome
Republic is one male brand that isn’t afraid of going all out: cuts, colors and accessories, the collection had it all. Although Omar Farooq, the force behind Republic, isn’t a designer per se, the quality of his craftsmanship proves that sometimes a wild and ardent passion is enough to put you in the top league. As always, Republic delivered impeccably on the cut and tailoring with ‘Blaak Chrome’ but it missed the experimentation that he delved in with his previous collection. The …

Yashir Waheed
Back to Life
From a seasoned designer like Yashir Waheed, one expects a greater emphasis on construction which his previous and current collections have sorely lacked. He attempts to go back to the soil and resurrect the rustic khaddar, a fabric that holds historic and political affiliation to the history of the subcontinent and marries in with ajrak, a symbolic piece of heritage in itself, for a sporty and masculine collection for men and women. Despite being a pret savvy collection, Waheed played it …

Sous Marine
After a beautiful traditional showcase at the previous fashion week, Nikki Nina’s aquatic collection nosedived this time around. Poorly structured, ill-fitted and carrying large ungainly stains, the collection was a sad testimony to the fact that the duo needs to get their creative apprentice Mohsin Ali back. Screen prints depicting life underwater was too literal an interpretation of the marine theme and sheer tops worn over tank tops and short shift dresses serenading as kameezes with slits over miniskirts, made for a …

Pakistan Fashion Week opens with a burst of cuts, colours and a tinge of predictability.
Mast Patang
Akif Mahmood gained acclaim for bringing folk heritage onto the ramp and in the three seasons that he has shown so far, he stays true to that passion of creating themed collections focused on Pakistan’s cultural roots.  From a debut with his Kailash collection, Mahmood now took us to the famed rooftops in Lahore where kite festivals are held annually to commemorate the coming of spring. Haveli and kite motifs …