Pakistani Fashion Designers – Milan Fashion Week

Milan Fashion Week came in with a surprise when Pakistani Fashion designers Maheen Khan, Deepak Perwani and Rizwan Beyg showcased their collections at the Milano Moda Donna (women’s) Spring/Summer 2010 season, organized by Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana. Their collections were showcased in the New Upcoming Designers (N-U-De) Category.

The collections caught the audience off-guard, since it was different from the rest – it was all Pakistani! The theme chosen by designers was to showcase Pakistan’s culture and traditions infused in Western attire.

Maheen Khan’s Khyber Mail as she puts it, was a total depiction of the artwork, embroidery from the Khyber, and even the lovely ‘kotis’and sleek pleated shalwars worn throughout Pakistan. That was the whole idea about Khyber Mail. When Maheen puts it, she puts it well! To accentuate more Khyber style in the collection, the designer came up with a brilliant idea of accessorizing it with colorful traditional hats namely ‘pukhol’ made out of khaddar and Satin. Maheen’s prêt collection was a fusion of solid catchy colors ranging from orange, white, grey, yellow and red. Fashion Guru Maheen’s Khyber Mail was purely a work of exuberance and understated elegance.

Pakistan’s Fashion Icon, Rizwan Beyg is a maestro who plays along black or white. Following his success at the Ensemble show this year, the fashion designer again chose white as his theme, to make it in contrast to Deepak’s and Maheen’s rather multi-hued collection. White has become his signature color. His collection had a more defined tilt towards Western style – long flowing skirts, revealing around the torso with most of the skirts wound with a big white bow in the front. The skirts were tremendously designed in crochet and embellished with pearls.

Another Pakistani Fashion Guru left the crowd breathless with his Pakistani themed Western collection. His collection played along the same color variations as Maheen’s, with eccentric use of local ‘dastarkhawan’ and ‘ajrak’prints, elegantly used on white fabric.