[Lahore: 3 April 2012] This April marks the fifth consecutive PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week; the third year of prêt a porter fashion by the Pakistan Fashion Design Council.
PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week will take place in Lahore, from the 13th – 16th of April 2012.
As announced earlier this month, PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week will be showcasing 24 luxury/prêt a porter designer collections across 4 days at one main runway venue.
Furthermore, in keeping with the season and to their ongoing commitment to creating synergy and collaboration between textile and fashion, the PFDC will also be holding 2 days of designer/textile mill voile shows on the 2nd [14th April] and 3rd day [15th April] of PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week, just prior to the luxury/prêt a porter evening shows.
Moreover, in the interests of taking the business of fashion a step further, the PFDC will also be welcoming a delegation of buyers, agents and media to Lahore this April, to attend fashion week.To complement their attendance, the PFDC has also ensured permanent exhibition stalls are set up at the venue for the duration of PFDC Sunsilk Fashion week with each designers’/textile houses portfolio, production capabilities and design sensibilities clearly exhibited. The council has also ensured that those brands and labels available have been equipped with the requisite knowledge and training to allow them to deal professionally with agents, buyers and stockists, through a series of workshops focusing on the commercial aspects of fashion.
This April also marks the exciting new addition of a trends show at PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week, set to highlight the trends this for the upcoming season through fifteen ‘looks’ put together from the works of fourteen participating designers. For their fifth PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week the council has also diversified their styling portfolio introducing three distinct make up and stylist teams: Toni & Guy, Khawar Riaz & Maram & Aabroo.
This weeks’ luxury/prêt participating design houses include Adnan Pardesy, Akif, Ali Xeeshan, Ammar Belal, Asifa & Nabeel, AZZA by Azeeza Desai Khan, Élan by Khadijah Shah, Fahad Hussayn, FnkAsia, Hammad-ur-Rahman, HSY, Karma, Mohsin, Muse, Nickie Nina, Noman Arfeen, Republic by Omar Farooq, Sadaf Malaterre, Sania Maskatiya,, Somal Halepoto, Tazeen Hassan, The House of Kamiar Rokni, Zara Shahjahan & Zonia Anwaar with nine voile shows
Speaking about the PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week platform, Chairperson of the Executive Committee of the PFDC, Sehyr Saigol said: “At PFDC Sunsilk Fashion week this April, we are expecting prominent international and national fashion journalists, international and national buyers and retail agents invited by us specifically. Further, in continuation of our commitment to giving designers a fashion platform that allows for exposure to the international fashion business, we look forward to announcing an exciting partnership soon, which will help strengthen this commitment. Lastly and importantly, as a Council we are also very grateful to our corporate and media sponsors who have supported us in the past three years and continue to do so.”
Amir Paracha, VP Marketing for Home & Personal Care, Unilever Pakistan said “We are pleased to welcome everyone to the third year of PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week in Lahore. This April event will see us strengthening our association with PFDC by the presence of our brand LUX along with Pond’s on the red carpet. This patronage is manifest of our continued commitment towards the growth of the fashion Industry in Pakistan and Unilever looks forward to seeing the platform grow each year, embracing more and more designers who will take Pakistani fashion to the next level.”
For the 5th PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Week and in the spirit of unity the council has formed a team comprising of PFDC’s members and designers heading production for the week. To this end HSY and his team will lead show production including choreography with Maheen Kardar Ali and Zara Shahjahan for front stage management. Mohsin Ali and Akif Mahmood will manage the exhibition area with Fahad Hussayn and Ali Xeeshan working alongside the style teams for hair and makeup. Kamiar Rokni and Asim Naeem will oversee green room management. The event is being coordinated by the Rteam, with foreign media management by Latitude and PR by Lotus.
About the Pakistan Fashion Design Council &PFDC Fashion Week:
- Dates Announced: 13th – 16th April 2012
The PFDC was established in 2006 and 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 includes over 66 members from across the country.
PFDC as a body is involved in the revival of the crafts sector in collaboration with Aik Hunar Aik Nagar [AHAN]; this being of significance since 90% 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 recently relocated to a bigger flagship multi brand outlet opening in October 2011 with 9500 square feet of space at Mall 1 on the Main Boulevard in Lahore where 39 fashion designers are stocking in addition to 3 shoe brands. The PFDC will also introduce their multi- label store in Karachi soon at the Dolmen City Mall.
The Fashion Week platform was first introduced in February 2010, in an endeavour to map Pakistan on international fashion week circuits. Thus April 2012 will be the third year there will be a complete synergy between three aspects of the business of fashion and retail: 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 PFDC Sunsilk 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, the success of the first four seasons of Fashion Week in 2010 – 11 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.
The four concluded PFDC Sunsilk Fashion Weeks’ have not only helped the designers who showcased at the platform but have also provided other designers, who were not part of these weeks of fashion in both Lahore and Karachi, the opportunity to meet and network with personalities from the international world of fashion and media to better build their brands.
