Khawar Riaz is known as a star-maker par excellence and has been instrumental in making several careers Zara Sheikh, Farooq Mannan, Ahmed Butt, Arooj, Imran Abbas, Amina Shafat, Danial… the list of stars made by this star makers is endless. Having the Midas touch must make him feel ten feet tall!

“I love unconventional faces - faces that most other people wouldn’t consider exceptional. I sometimes get fascinated by a particular face and imagine how I could go about transforming it. For instance, when Ahmed and Zara came to me, no one would have thought that they had it in them to become models, but I saw their potential right then and there. I immediately knew that they would become the king and queen of the industry. But I had to work on them. I had to give them time, patience, and the right kind of environment. And then they just blossomed and these seemingly ordinary individuals became head-burning beauties. Stars need to be made into stars; there’s always a creator behind them”.

In a place like showbiz where careers are quite short-lived to procure numero uno status is difficult, but what is even more difficult is to sustain it. There is this general impression that Ather Shahzad have managed to keep the fire going, while Khawar’s work, on the other hand, is fast losing its edge.

How would you defend your decline?

“I think I am very successful in my own way. I am still surviving. Success does not lie in people’s praise but in your body of work - what you deliver. If you are satisfied from within, I believe you have achieved it. And this inner satisfaction is far better than keeping others happy, you have to be true to yourself and do what feels right. If you go against your inner being just for some worldly attainment, you will never be happy in the long run. People who play diplomatic games lead very disturbed personal lives. But that’s not the case with me. Thank God!” says Khawar with sheer confidence.

Lux Style Awards 2004 : Sonu and Priyanka steal the thunder at Lollywood’s Oscars!

It was a night to remember for fans of icons from Bollywood and Lollywood.

Playing host to them and the stars were the organizers of the Lux Style Awards 2004 at Dubai’s lavishly extravagant Novotel Hotel, and Bollywood stars, including Sonu Nigam and Priyanka Chopra, did not disappoint.

Playback singer-cum actor Sonu Nigam carried the night so well that his fans were not fully satiated.

Sighs of, “I wish he had stayed on longer,” could be heard from many in the audience.

It’s not every day that you meet someone like Tooba. Enthusiastic but not vulnerable, upfront but not stubborn, savvy but not dumb; a girl who isn’t afraid of speaking her mind and who always delivers her best on the ramp or in front of the camera. Self-assured, Tooba knows what she wants in life and gets it. Impulsiveness and diplomacy are characteristics that are alien to her nature. But at the same time, honesty, sincerity, trust and confidence are her hallmarks.

Ammar Belal is the charming young guy behind the stylish ABCD, the label that has injected new life into the stodgy old Sarah’s retail empire. That’s quite an achievement for someone who majored in management, and whose only qualification in fashion is a short stint as an intern at Selfridges in London. But what Ammar lacks in professional training, he makes up for with his natural talent, intelligence, enthusiasm, and inherent love of clothes. These have helped ABCD become one of the most sought-after casualwear labels around. Walk into his outlet and check out the clothes: whether it’s the cut, the fit, or the styling, we dare you to not convert to ABCD-ism!

Old is gold and new is bold. Bold enough to bowl you over with everything that they do. And they do like no one can do. Here is a great tidal wave of young fashion gurus and divas that has stormed our fashion industry shores… Rocking a lot of boats and changing the scenery of the breakwater. So charged are they that they could put KESC’s Power Station to shame. They are relatively new but surely on a signing spree. So meet the new fashion police, which is lighting up our fashion world.

Designers

Usman Dittu