Pakistan Fashion Design Council, Sunsilk present 2nd fashion week

Pakistan Fashion Design Council, Sunsilk present 2nd fashion week

PFDC and Sunsilk are proud to present their second fashion week from November 10 to 13 in Karachi, featuring four days of high fashion by Pakistani designers, encompassing both the leading names from the industry as well as its emerging talents. The week will feature 24 distinct designers who will showcase creations from their Spring/Summer 2011 prêt-à-porter collections, with daily post-show exhibition stalls at the venue, thereby aligning the Pakistani fashion industry with international trends.

Participating designers include Ali Xeeshan, Ammar Belal, Asifa and Nabeel, Élan, Fahad Hussayn, HSY, Libas, Maria B, Muse, Nayna, Nickie Nina, Nida Azwer, Rano’s Heirlooms, Republic, Saai by Sahar Atif, Sadaf Malaterre, Sobia Nazir, Sublime by Sara, Teejays, The House of Kamiar Rokni, YBQ, Zara Shahjahan, and emerging talents Akif and Mohsin.

The first day’s finale of the fashion week would be a charity show called ‘Fashion Gives Back’ with over 40 designers participating. Each designer will present his interpretation of ‘black’, highlighted with an accent colour. These creations, amongst others, have been donated by the designers to be sold at a 40 percent discount the next day at a fundraising exhibition from 12 noon to 3pm at Sheraton Hotel. All proceeds would be channelled towards the rehabilitation of flood victims of Hisar Qilay village in the Malakand district. In addition, throughout the fashion week, donations would be collected for the cause.

Following PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week’s unprecedented success in February this year, and the expansion of the PFDC fashion platform to Paris, the Fédération Française Prêt-à-Porter du Féminin has committed to work closely with the Pakistani fashion industry.

Consequently, the council has been invited by the federation to exhibit at Atmosphère’s in Paris for the January 2011 prêt-à-porter show. Around 15 designers would showcase their collections, to be selected by the PFDC’s French consultant, journalist and fashion entrepreneur, Alexandra Senes, who was present for the February fashion week and would also be present during the November shows.

Speaking about the second PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week, PFDC Executive Committee Chairwoman Sehyr Saigol said, “It gives me great pride that the PFDC brings to Karachi our second fashion week after a successful debut in Lahore in February. Through regular weeks of fashion, we are working towards formalising the processes needed to help commercialise Pakistan’s fashion industry, which were initiated in the previous week. Additionally and most pressing at this time, through our November fashion week, we also endeavour to engage this platform responsibly to contribute towards the relief and rehabilitation of flood victims.”

The second PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week will be produced by Catwalk Productions with styling by Sabs Salon and Khawar Riaz, event coordination by the R Team and public relations by Lotus. The PFDC Sunsilk team have also brought on board Little Black Book as business consultants, Latitude as buyer focused marketing consultants and Asim Naeem as a technical consultant.

The PFDC and Sunsilk have announced their next fashion week for April 2011 to be held in Lahore.

The PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week has come forward in an effort to rehabilitate and rebuild flood-affected areas of Pakistan as they announce their first-ever charity show entitled “Fashion Gives Back”. The charity show would be held from November 10-13 and take the final slot of the opening of fashion week in Karachi. The show will not be ticketed, however, voluntary donations would be accepted at the entrance. As a central part of the Fashion Gives Back! campaign, outfits from this very show, amongst others, would be exhibited for sale at knock-off prices on November 11 at Sheraton Hotel in Karachi.

PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week invites you to be part of something beyond the red carpet, the glitz and the glamour. A diversity of up to 50 designers will be donating outfits from their latest collections to be showcased on the ramp in an exciting first-of-its-kind charity show in Pakistan. With each creation expected to be sold, the entire proceeds will be channelled towards rehabilitation of the residents of the Hisar Qilay village in the Malakand district of Swat, which was heavily affected by the floods and has been adopted by the PFDC.

The fashion fraternity has raised over Rs 15 million to date for flood relief efforts and the PFDC invites you to come forward to support the key effort to raise further funds for the cause.

The PFDC was established in 2006 and, with over 55 members from across the country, endeavours to accord a corporate status to the fashion business, provide a platform for young and mainstream designers and to institutionalise the fashion industry in order to create and maintain industry standards in conformity with global market standards. Today, the PFDC is also involved in the revival of the crafts sector in collaboration with Aik Hunar Aik Nagar (AHAN); this being of significance since 90 percent of the embroideries of the South Asian subcontinent originates from Pakistan. The council also offers two annual scholarships to aspiring PIFD students. Lastly, the PFDC continues to strive towards the standardisation of the prêt-à-porter industry and to this end, the PFDC has two multi label retail boutiques to its credit, in Lahore and Karachi.

PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week is a platform to map Pakistan on international fashion week circuits. This will be the second time there will be a complete synergy between three aspects of the business: the designers, the crafts people and the textile industry who have worked together in a planned, cohesive and sustained manner to add value to previously simple products. Indeed Pakistan has an incredibly rich history of arts and crafts, which has provided the bedrock of our fledgling fashion industry. Through fashion weeks, the PFDC endeavours to show the world that despite the unstable socio-political situation the country finds itself in, Pakistanis are continuing to nurture and promote their creative heritage. To this end, success of the first ever PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week was indeed unprecedented and can be quantified by the success of the facility provided to showcase designer collections, the presence and keen interest of local, regional and international fashion buyers and the reaction and support of the international and local media.

With one of the world’s biggest, best-known and well-loved hair care brands Sunsilk as long-term patron, the second PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week is being held in the diverse and cosmopolitan city of Karachi and will feature over four days of fashion by 24 designers, encompassing both the leading names from the industry as well as emerging talents.