By Maliha Rehman
Contemporary. Glamorous. Elegant.
Over the years, the Saira Shakira signature has become very well-defined. The designer duo has a penchant for uplifting traditional silhouettes and embellishments, tweaking them to modern lines. Over the years, this aesthetic has become more refined and more confident, playing with color and embroideries and experimenting with silhouette. The Saira Shakira customer-base has grown proportionately.
On that tangent, the brand’s showcase on the third day of the recent Laam Fashion Week (LFW), titled ‘Free As A Bird – A Bohemian Rhapsody’ highlighted Saisa Faisal and Shakira Usman’s strengths as designers. Long gowns, tapered skirts, off-shoulder asymmetric shirts and variations of the lehnga choli were featured on the runway, in a pleasing palette dominated by pastels, with a shock of bright color popping out here and there.
There were some designs that particularly caught the eye: the fitted lehnga choli with sequins zigzagging down the choli, ending in a bunch of artistic florals at the hem; the glamorous tone-on-tone wine red shimmering jacket, paired with a fitted bustier and pants; the long, halter-necked gown with cut-worked florals clustered along the neckline and down the hem; the slinky gown in beige, worked with embellishments in autumnal hues; the rows upon rows of sequined borders pieced together into a pair of pants; the long gown with a black base, intricately embellished with trellises reminiscent of the European renaissance; a blingy suit with a ruffled neckline.
It was modern and wearable; edgy enough to make a statement but not over the top. Back when fashion weeks were regular events, Saira Shakira had forayed on the catwalk as a relatively new label. Now, some years down the line, with the fashion week framework having faded away and LFW bringing it back to life, this was the designers’ return to the runway, as an established label with a regular clientele, and one that had a well-defined aesthetic and was sure of it.
Having said that, one wished that a long gown, painstakingly worked with sequined borders, could have fitted the model better so that she wouldn’t have to lift it as she came down the runway. Also, while there was innovation in many of the embellishment patterns, there were some designs where the embroideries followed generic, floral lines. More artistic touches – and perhaps some brilliant mixes of colors – could have amped up the lineup.
It was still a strong collection. And, one assumes, a collection that will sell very well.
It was unfortunate, though, that the Saira Shakira showcase, scheduled as the finale on the third day of LFW, ran into a glitch with many of the audience getting up and leaving prior to the finale. Fashion weeks in Pakistan tend to run late and the show was taking place close to 11 p.m. on a weeknight, and perhaps this was why guests chose to leave. However, the finale show would have taken 20 minutes at most. It would have been respectful to stay around for a bit before rushing off for dinner.
The designers were openly upset. In a letter that they released to the media two days later, they wrote:
Hello,
We are highly disappointed from the incident that happened on Day 3 of LFW – our show day. The combined act constituted an invitation for all 4 designers Kamiar Rokni, Summat, Mohsin Tawasulli and Saira Shakira with a show start time of 9 pm.
Our guests sat through other designer shows on time from 9 pm to 10.45 pm, both as a mark of respect to fraternity and the fashion week platform we all were mutually showcasing at.
It was completely inappropriate for so many people to suddenly leave, seeing them leaving other audience also misunderstood thinking the show is over and approximately half of the hall left right before our finale show which was not longer than 15 minutes duration. HSY had to do the announcement on his own but it was too late.
If the rule is that each designer’s guests specifically come to watch their friends’ shows only then what is the point of these fashion week platforms. Every designer individually should have their own 200-300 people guest list and they do their own separate shows and leave with no collective fashion fraternity environment. If no one can force anyone to stay to see other designer shows as a basic courtesy and etiquettes then those designers’ guests should also not be forced to sit for hours for other shows either.
We raised our concerns with the management and did not receive any satisfactory response at the time of incident. We even categorically asked the management to halt and cancel our show but was convinced otherwise as a responsibility towards industry and seeing the bigger picture to continue despite serious reservations.
We request the management teams, media and other fraternity to take notice and action to devise policies to prevent such instances in the future.
Thank you,
Saira & Shakira
Referring to the incident, the designers added, “We would have liked to invite more of our own guests to watch our show but every designer gets a limited number of seats. Perhaps the management could look into that next time? We had assumed that the guests would keep sitting through all the shows but since that didn’t happen, we would like to be able to invite all the clients who are eager to see our collections but were unable to come because of seat limitations.”
It was all quite unfortunate and it makes one reflect on how the Pakistani fashion industry needs to be more united. LFW brought back energy and excitement to fashion, uniting a melting pot of veteran and new designers on to a single runway. After a long time, one saw brands move away from their commercial ruts and innovate, get creative, set new trends in motion.
The fraternity, however, needs to stand by each other for fashion to move forward. Saira Shakira may have assumed that guests would continue to sit in the audience despite the shows running late but at least their peers in the fashion industry should have been in attendance, watching the show, offering support. Similarly, Saira Shakira – now an established brand – need to do the same for others in the fraternity.
On the upside, the images from LFW are exceptional; showing models on a wide, sweeping catwalk, with a background of LED screens looming behind them. It all looks quite glamorous. As it should be. Saira Shakira have always had a flair for glamor.
What do you think?