“I have a dream”, said model-turned-entrepreneur Mehreen Syed, in much the same fervour as Martin Luther King did, at a press conference to announce the launch of the International Fashion Academy Pakistan (IFAP), where she is the CEO.
Many have tried their luck with the idea of establishing a fashion academy and assumed that a seasoned player like Frieha Altaf, whose agency Catwalk is the only consolidated platform for modelling in the country, would be the first to establish an institute formally. But true to its title as the fashion …

Models have that very distinctive walk, and when they get it right it looks great. For those who try to copy it can look quite silly if done wrong. So how to walk like a model?
The first thing to practice is just walking in high heels – many women naturally lean forward slightly when wearing heels – don’t do it. Practice standing up bolt straight whilst wearing the highest heels that you have.
Then get a video of a fashion show – they are always shown on TV, so video it.
Watch …

Starting as a Model
Some models are “discovered” and become an overnight success. These are often the stories you hear about because the press likes to print these. Most often however, models become successful only through hard work and many tedious interviews. Like most careers, it takes years for most models to reach a point where they are making a substantial income.
Options available are:
1. Find a reputable agency to represent you.
2. Find a reputable photographer in the fashion industry to help get you started.
3. Enter a reputable contest or model search. …

What is on your mind?
Umar, family, work, work, work!!
If you had to make an apology, what would it be for and for whom?
For being lazy… to everyone I work with.

Where’s the best place to be?
Home with Umar and crabbing with friends.

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 …

In terms of initiation, the eighties rules. Despite the garish technicolour, the empire sleeves, the culottes and the pantaloons, the decade had a regal bearing, one that crashed in with force and would leave its mark for years to come. With this tsunamic wave swept in the making of an industry in Pakistan and when the tide retreated, it left behind the ultimate diva: ATIYA KHAN. As a model Atiya allowed a free imaginative interaction with the clothes she wore. She was versatile, unorthodox and unpredictable, retiring at an unforgivably …

Actors bring to mind a degenerate breed, who can do anything that shock you. Because everything about their lifestyle is meant to be shocking, so you kind of get blasé and immunized about it all. But meeting Adnan Siddiqui is like a collapse of all these illusions and preconceived notions about actors as hangin-loose dudes all about wine and women. I was completely thrown off-guard when Adnan took off on a completely different tangent from what actors were supposed to (in my limited knowledge) and revealed his true side to …

Whether you know her as Nida Pasha or Nida Yasir, there is no denying that this young starlet has made a name for herself not because of her illustrious show biz background but by dint of her own talent and hard work. Fashion Collection chats with her about her transition from a budding TV artiste during her carefree days as a single woman to her present position of celebrity married to a colleague.
Do you feel being Kazim Pasha’s daughter facilitated you in joining the acting profession?
I hardly think so. I …