PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week 2012: Day 1 (Part II)

PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week 2012: Day 1 (Part II)

[04 October, 2012]: The pioneering Pakistan Fashion Design Council [PFDC] and L’Oréal Paris, the world’s leading beauty brand, presented day 1 of the PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week 2012 – a platform that endeavours to define and present contemporary and traditional Pakistani Bridal fashion and make-up trends, fusing to create the ‘look’ for the bridal season 2012 – 2013!

The first day of bridal week was opened with exclusive bridal trend show by Nabila [N-Pro] featuring Zaheer Abbas followed by solo fashion showcases by Misha Lakhani, AZZA and Sonia Azhar Design Concepts respectively as summarised below. Each day of PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week is being styled by a different creative and make-up team and to this end, Day 1 was styled by Nabila and her creative team at N-Pro.

The green room/backstage for PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week was sponsored by L’Oréal Paris with YOC’A, or the Young Collective Artists, creating the furniture for the exclusive L’Oreal Paris lounge;  the black carpet was sponsored by Zong with Bank Al Falah as the official banking partners for PFDC, associate sponsors PepsiCo, showed production by HSY Events, choreography by HSY, front stage management by Maheen Kardar Ali, backstage management by Asim Naeem, business consultancy by Eleventh Retail, photography by Faisal Farooqui and the team at Dragonfly, The Royal Palm Golf & Country Club as the hospitality partners, Hum TV/Style360 as the official media partners and public relations by Lotus.

Bridal Showcase: AZZA

The third show of the evening was by AZZA who showcased her bridal collection for PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week 2012 entitled the ‘Holiday & Trousseau Capsule Collection’. With this collection AZZA strived for a modern opulence; bringing traditional embroideries and motifs on to a modern silhouette that was understated yet bold; the collection celebrated the Holidays aimed for the perfect party wear for this time of year as well as seasonality for formal bridal wear whether as a party goer or a bride. Winter whites fit for a snow queen to rich hues depicting the color of leaves turning for the months of hibernation. The collection bore influences of designer Azeeza Desai Khan's sub-continental heritage whereby she had used pure silk indigenous to the sub-continent and bold embellishments consisting of antiqued gold wire and Swarovski to draw modernly opulent embellished motifs on her pieces. With menswear pieces also included in the collection, AZZA’s signature aesthetic came to life with billowing frocks, structured blazers, and exaggerated scarves juxtaposed against statement embellishments in a rich fall and winter based palette, ready to sparkle for the holidays and weddings.

AZZA is an expression of Azeeza’s own elegant yet avant-garde aesthetic and commitment to philanthropy. AZZA is produced in the US, India and Pakistan and for each piece sold, AZZA provides a garment to an impoverished South Asian woman or child. In addition, AZZA houses an ‘Artisan’ line that provides economic growth and empowerment to rural South Asian women in regions of poverty and conflict. AZZA caters to a new generation of American women fusing high street with high fashion through billowing fabrics, edgy embellishments and urban cuts. Emmy Award nominated marketing maven and AZZA creative director Azeeza Desai Khan began her fashion education in India, where she was formally trained through a two year apprenticeship that taught her the fundamentals of creating intricate embellishments. Born and bred in the US, Azeeza’s designs took on a new meaning when she combined Western and European cuts with Indian and Afghan inspired embellishments. The marrying of the two concepts proved successful during Azeeza’s debut showcase at Mercedes Benz Fashion Week New York in September 2011. Most recently, Azeeza was named as a ‘Design Industry Expert’ alongside the Neiman Marcus General Manager by the celebrated Driehaus Design Initiative; she will soon participate in a roundtable panel and mentor students from the world renowned Art Institute College of Design. AZZA made her PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week 2012 debut this October 2012.

Bridal Showcase: Sonia Azhar Design Concepts

Sonia Azhar Design Concepts showcased her bridal week collection for PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week 2012 titled ‘Dark Romance’. Taking inspiration from the allure and mystery of romance and working on that primitive feeling of love inherent in all human beings, Sonia Design Concepts’ Dark Romance collection delved into lighter and darker colour palettes to invoke a deep sense of glamor.

Sonia Azhar of Sonia Design Concepts is an Architecture graduate from the prestigious National College of Arts in Lahore.  With fashion design experience spanning over 15 years, Sonia Design Concepts specialises in couture. Under her supervision and guidance, craftsmen work to create timeless pieces. With emphasis on colours and blending these with different embroidery techniques, embellishments and cuts, Sonia Azhar amalgamates Eastern craftsmanship and Western cuts in her bridal wear. Using hand embroidery and swarovski crystals along with the kora, beads, sequins work, her collections have been well received nationally and abroad and to this end, she has showcased her work in Abu Dhabi, Dubai, London and Glasgow to name a few. This October, Sonia Azhar presented her collection at the PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week 2012

Stay tuned for whole week updates :)