By Maliha Rehman
There’s one key word intrinsic to summer fashion: comfort. You can’t possibly put your best foot forward while you’re sweating buckets. Fashion in the long, hot, Pakistani summer needs to be easy breezy, lightweight, bridging the gap between too casual and very formal.
Summer trends, then, tend to be easy on the eyes and also easy-to-wear. And here’s what’s been trending this year:
Funky prints
Fahad Hussayn Faction
There will always be a market for the elaborate three-piece suit but let’s admit it, luxury unstitched collections may be pretty but they are hardly fashion-forward. Also, with the fabric laden with embroideries, appliqued patches and silk and organza borders, the suits don’t end up being very summer-friendly.
Funky prints, on the other hand, have been making head-turning, fabulous statements this year. A wild mix of colors and a mélange of ebullient flora and fauna flitting over a lightweight cotton canvas is all you need to cut a stylish figure. Designer Fahad Hussayn’s fabulous Print Museum lineup is a case in point. Hussain Rehar’s Jugnu also offers some very cool printed options for the high-street.
And as you read this, many more brands are catching on to the trend and you’ll soon be seeing plenty of wacky, irresistible prints on your Instagram feed. There’s certainly much more fun than embroidered unstitched formal lawn!
Jugnu Lahore
Cotton saris
Hania Aamir wearing The Saari Girl
Saris are eternally fashionable but this year, cotton saris are particularly out in full force. It’s summer formal-wear in a fabric that is ideal for the weather, without the need to include additional embellishments. All you need to cut a stylish figure is a cotton sari, in a gorgeous blend of colors, perhaps with an eye-catching border. You also need the grace and the confidence to make that sari rock, of course. This trend, then, is not for those of us who begin to stumble and fall as we try to keep our sari pallu in place!
Mahira Khan wearing Blocked Textiles
Actress Gauhar Khan in a cotton sari in the Amazon Prime series Tandav
Thread embroideries, without the bling!
Rizwan Beyg
It just isn’t the season for heavy duty embellishments. The twinkling of sequins against the glaring heat of the sun just doesn’t appeal which is why you just might want to go easy on the bling when you select your embroidered formals. What does work, though, are delicate thread embroideries on lightweight cottons, chiffons and even silks: a beautifully constructed paisley, a mix of florals or even a reindeer or two peeping out at in multicolored thread-work! For the high fashion aficionado, the threadwork at Rizwan Beyg, Sania Maskatiya and Misha Lakhani is always in a league of its own and on the high-street, Image Fabrics – and the trillion others replicating the brand – offers affordable options.
And even if you have a penchant for shimmer and sparkle, it’ll just be an eyesore right now. Save it for the winter.
Image Fabrics
Block and discharge prints
Blocked Textiles
Admittedly, block prints and discharge prints are never ever out of fashion but this summer, designers have experimented with the technique. There’s a more varied mix of colors, different silhouettes and experimental ‘blocks’ on offer. Blocked Textiles is, of course, a perpetual favorite with designer Afsheen Junejo consistently bringing out new block-print patterns with seasonal collections, year after year: elephants, fish, reindeer, honeybees, cats as well as gorgeous florals!
Also, Farah Talib Aziz and Ansab Jahangir have both delved into beautiful discharge and block-print formals that have evidently become all the rage. It’s very trendy and it’s also timeless – the sort of aesthetic that never really goes out of style.
Block-printed formal-wear by Farah Talib Aziz
Discharge print by Ansab Jahangir Studio worn by Zhalay Sarhadi
Shalwars
Jugnu Lahore
Shalwars, in all their many variations, are back with a bang! Wear an easy, basic shalwar on a day to day basis; opt for a dhoti shalwar or a scalloped cowl shalwar when you want to stand out and should you have an inclination for tapered silhouettes, opt for the tulip! The slim-fit cigarette pant is also still around but do you really want to bear with it in this sweltering weather?
The dhoti!
The truly adventurous are opting for the dhoti! You see it now and again on your Instagram feed, a basic kurta suddenly standing out because it has been paired with a matching dhoti, a few dhotis fluttering here and there at a red carpet event and of course, rockstar and absolute style icon Faris Shafi showing you exactly how to rock a dhoti in various bright pops of color!
This trend isn’t for the faint-hearted – a lot of us may have apprehensions about how to be graceful in a dhoti. But this is a pretty easy-to-wear fashion trend. All you might need is a little bit of practice.
Khussas
Khussas are the footwear du jour. Strappy sandals, bejeweled slides and brightly colored high heels may still be making the rounds but more than ever, you’ll now see people making a beeline for khussas. They come in all sorts of variations, too. There are the brightly-colored, affordable, but often hard-soled ones available in markets like Liberty Market in Lahore and Gulf in Karachi. They look great but often they can be uncomfortable to wear. There are also a number of shoe brands dabbling with khussas; soft-soled ones, in a varied range of colors to match with different outfits
What’s great about khussas is that they can easily transition from casual to formal-wear. You can wear a pair with jeans and then, also pair it with a formal shalwar kameez or even a gharara at a formal event. And once you find a pretty, comfortable pair of khussas, you might find it difficult to part with them, wearing them absolutely everywhere. I speak from experience!
What do you think?