Hussain Rehar’s ‘Moraan Sarkaar’ was a modern-day fashion show in an old world setting – Style

In the late evening, with a really slight nip settling into the air, Lahore’s Shalimar Gardens arrived alive with a manner display. Aspect of the attract of Hussain Rehar’s solo showcase, Moraan Sarkaar, was the sharp contrast between Lahore’s style set and the group that milled about the gardens. A elevated pool and fountains surrounded by ageing Mughal arches shaped the show’s venue. Encompassing it, in the backyard under, stood juice stands, popcorn-waalas and plastic tables and chairs. A couple 50 {a0ae49ae04129c4068d784f4a35ae39a7b56de88307d03cceed9a41caec42547}-covered tents served as backstage exactly where the types dressed, their dupattas splayed out just so by stylist Yasser Dar, the group at Nabila’s perfecting their hair and make-up, oblivious to the curious crowds peering at them.

Yin and yang, a generations previous Mughal back garden and the newness of cutting edge layout, the significant gloss of style and the pedestrian appeal of a public spot on a weekend — the disparity emulated Lahore itself, encompassing the vibrant crowd and the higher trend echelon which all in some way suit into the cultural essence of the city.

With the demonstrate underway, passers-by gathered to stare up at the system from the backyard under or from the a bit extra elevated winding walks and terraces. Mobile phones in hand, they recorded video clips of the models walking on the uneven brick route encompassing the fountains which served as the runway. The images and video clips filtering out on social media a tiny later highlighted this crowd in the backdrop, gathered to observe a show that they had chanced on while investing their day off in just one of Lahore’s oldest picnic places.

It reminded me of Bollywood tracks from the 80s exactly where you would see huge crowds gathered all over the shoot, finding caught on display as they watched Amitabh Bachchan and Zeenat Aman shift to a punchy song.

There was nothing 80s, although, about Hussain Rehar’s solo featuring which, by the way, has been the only manner exhibit to get position in Pakistan this year (furnished you disregard a mish-mash of bling referred to as Kashee’s from some weeks ago). The select viewers consisted of properly-acknowledged names from Lahore’s fashion fraternity and the designs orbiting the ancient fountains supplied marriage ceremony-dress in options for the modern day female who incidentally sorts a huge chunk of Hussain’s clientele.

Five decades ago, Hussain Rehar debuted with a splash of color and psychedelia, presenting luxury-put on collections on the fashion 7 days catwalk. Because then, he has honed his signature, streamlining his edgy aesthetic on to the typical, rewarding boundaries of the very long kameez, the shalwar, the bridal lehnga, the unstitched formals selection. His strongest providing point remains his unconventional acquire on color, placement and pattern, which provides a punch to even the most regular silhouettes. Now, celebrating ‘Five Years of Hussain Rehar’ at the Shalimar Gardens, he additional the same twists to his wedding day-use line, small details that could elevate a kameez, a lehnga, a extended shirt or a sari into a little something much more.

There ended up sure layouts from the 36-piece selection that stood out. A four-lawn dupatta glistening with gota arrived paired with an ivory layered lehnga and choli stitched from 30 yards of chanderi silk. Extended shirts in black and maroon ended up paired with palazzo pants and etched with special floral designs. Bridal lehngas in crimson and vermillion arrived layered with panels of embroideries. Embroidered blazers have been worn more than effortless breezy velvet pants. Off-shoulder, fitted velvet dresses had embroidery tapering down their side. A stunning array of whites dabbled with a assortment of silhouettes — lengthy shirts collected at the waistline, layered skirts, a jacket worn in excess of a totally layered skirt fashioned from yards upon yards of hand-woven chanderi silk with floral motifs a mélange of silver and gold, gota, sequins and handwork.

There were being specifics that glistened in the evening daylight and that you could admire later, when you zoomed in on the pics — the unique floral styles, the gota meshed thickly jointly, the extended capes, the glittering embellishment on the white jacket with the matching significant clutch.

Showstopper Maya Ali wore cardinal purple, worked with thick swathes of embroidery, and complemented by a seriously bordered dupatta.

Ayesha Fazli, also going for walks the runway, wore a totally embroidered sari with kiran lining the border.

Two yrs back, Hussain had put out a debut solo present that had in the same way performed with color and system, mixing hand embroideries with equipment-get the job done and maintaining an eye out for commerce. Now, he the moment yet again place forward a line that was commercially viable but which also gave testament to how he has grown as a designer — the dresses had been predominantly hand-embellished, the finishing was neater and some of the silhouettes reset the domains of marriage ceremony-don with experimental tweaks in this article and there.

The styling and hair and make-up amped up the seems to be models wore brightly coloured fez hats, parandas established off by shiny golden pompoms had been woven into very long braids and there were being assertion earrings and hair extras, crafted from pearls, golden chaand-tara patterns and kundan.

The location of the show, on the other hand, could have benefitted from a swift cleanse-up. The Shalimar Gardens may well have their old-entire world attract but practically nothing much more was completed in terms of décor. A smattering of rose petals in the fountain area or floral garlands hanging close to the central arches could have maybe served in generating grander visuals. And while the pink brick path bordering the fountains was large plenty of to masquerade as a runway, it was also bumpy and lots of a product stumbled listed here and there — but didn’t tumble, at minimum. An even catwalk set up over the path would have made the demonstrate circulation far more smoothly.

Then once again, based on my knowledge of his clearly show from two a long time back, this is how Hussain Rehar prefers to roll out his collections. He selects a location, gathers jointly an A-list modelling pool, sends out the invitations and lets the garments get centre stage. Qualifications, tunes, theatrics and the pointless expenses related with them are sidelined. In a world still reeling from the write-up-pandemic economic crunch, it helps make feeling. The precedence requirements to be to set out a present, to showcase a collection where by the viewers is able to enjoy the style and design, to make guaranteed that the styling is on-place and to reduce unnecessary fripperies.

A exhibit doesn’t need to be an all-out elaborate demonstration of pomp and prosperity. It can be simple and tasteful and make waves only on the basis of planning clout. Regrettably, no just one else in Pakistan’s manner fraternity looks to recognize this now. Designers are a lot more than happy shooting generic images of commercially feasible, repetitive clothing and earning revenue by floating them out on their Instagram feeds and e-stores. Vogue displays have receded completely into the shadows. The truth that Hussain, only 5 many years into his job, nonetheless would like to celebrate his operate by showcasing it all on his have, in a solo present, is commendable.

The factor about a solo show, however, is that it puts a designer completely in the highlight. Hussain’s selection was wonderful general and even though some styles have been reminiscent of his recent unstitched and stitched festive lines, the demonstrate was an total illustration of his current eyesight for the festive calendar year in advance. On the other hand, the most memorable models have been the modest smattering that pushed the sartorial envelope. A few a lot more of these would have genuinely additional to the display.

The desi customer is a stickler for glittering paisleys and of program, nothing at all sells improved than an elaborate pink, white and pastel pink bridal, but what stands out in a display are the designs that are far more experimental. There may have been some attention-grabbing components to Hussain’s regular types but the off-shoulder robe, the blazers, capes and complete skirts were being truly something else. They represented the show’s ‘wow’ times and it would not have damage to have a several extra of people.

But to deliver any ‘wow’ moments at all, at a time when fashion at massive is toeing monotonous, retail-pleasant traces, is a feat certainly. Hussain Rehar has carved an id for himself by balancing retail with exclusive design and style. From out-of-the-box shoots to vivacious design, his atelier in one particular in the pretty handful of that are even now presenting solutions that are manner forward. And he is passionate plenty of about his do the job to celebrate it with a display, showcasing to a dwell viewers rather than merely to the dispassionate viewers surfing by means of Instagram.

Much more of this enthusiasm is so direly desired in Pakistani style currently.