The Pakistan Fashion Design Council [PFDC] in collaboration with L’Oréal Paris, the world’s leading beauty brand, presents PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week [#PLBW19] which officially commenced on 26th September 2019, marking the ninth consecutive year of the bridal couture platform.
This year at #PLBW19, PFDC will be showcasing a mix of established, young, and contemporary designers within an enlarged scope of the bridal platform, following two distinct sets of show segments: Early Evening and Evening shows.
To this end, the PFDC presented a set of collections in the evening segment from a diversity of mainstream luxury bridal ateliers on the first day of #PLBW19 which opened with a grouped bridal showcase featuring Hussain Rehar and Zubia Zainab, followed by another grouped show featuring Nida Azwer, Aquafina Rising Talent Showcase [Abbas Jamil, Elaha Ahmed, Mehak Yaqoob, and Urwah Ali], and Saira*Shakira, as summarized below.
Indeed, the PFDC, in continuation of their consistent efforts to introduce fresh forces of fashion to the industry, brought to PLBW new bridal designers in the luxury evening segment: Zubia Zainab and the Aquafina Rising Talent. Aquafina Rising Talent has been mentored and curated directly by Chairperson of the PFDC, Sehyr Saigol. She worked individually with each designer to edit, structure, technically create, fabricate and develop new capsule collections with their designs having been adapted from their thesis presentations. The PFDC incubates each designer, providing the wherewithal for each designer to produce their collections.
The PFDC further extend their commitment to building an industry of new talent and brands with the early evening segment, where this year the Council give a platform to 4 new designers, many of whom have been trained at the Pakistan Institute of Fashion Design, scheduled for day-2 and day-3 of PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week [#PLBW19].
Moreover, the PFDC has worked over an entire decade to develop an infrastructure to professionalise the modelling industry of Pakistan. This has included the scouting, development and training of an entire new industry of models. This has also included instituting standards for a safe, protective and encouraging workplace for models. For this ninth iteration over 300 models along auditioned. 
With PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week, L’Oréal Pakistan continues to strengthen its commitment to #BeautyMeetsFashion platform and like every year L’Oréal Paris will set new trends for both bridal makeup and hair for the season.
L’Oréal Pakistan has reinforced the group’s credentials in beauty-technology leadership. For the first time in Pakistan, attendees will be experiencing the makeup looks curated exclusively for PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week [#PLBW19] in real time courtesy of a virtual makeup station powered by Modiface, Augmented Reality Application. #LOrealBeautyTech
In addition to this, L’Oréal Paris, in collaboration with SFK Studios [Sadaf Fawad Khan], shall be auctioning off a bridal outfit by SFK Studios during #PLBW19, proceeds for which will be donated to ICARE, to support Beauty for a Better Life – a philanthropic educational program by L’Oréal Foundation which enables economic empowerment of women via grooming workshops and beauty training.
The PFDC is proud to continue their partnership with L’Oréal Paris as their title sponsor for the ninth consecutive season with Aquafina as the blue carpet, rising talent and beverage partner, Libas Now as the digital content partners, Borjan as the footwear partner, Careem as the technology partner, J. Fragrance as the fragrance partner and Sonica Jewellers Signature as an Associate Sponsor.
PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week [#PLBW19] is being produced by the PFDC, with Hira Shah as the choreographer, ReStart Branding Solutions and Shazreh Khalid of Z and S events as event architects, Production 021 as show production and backstage management, N-Pro/NGENTs hair and makeup stylists, Kamiar Rokni as the official spokesperson for the PFDC, Rehan Babar as the Blue Carpet Host, Red Communications as the digital agency, Faisal Farooqui and the team at Dragonfly as the official photographers, AI Solutions as the tech support and live stream partners, Radio1 FM91 as the Radio Partners, Hum TV as the TV media partner with media management by Lotus Client Management & Public Relations.
GROUPED BRIDAL SHOWCASE – 1
Hussain Rehar
PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week 2019 Day-1 was opened by Hussain Rehar who showcased his bridal collection titled “The Fifth Dimension – The memory of the future”.
A staunch practitioner of expression through embellishment, Rehar draws the idea of bold and flamboyant into edgy chic embellishments which empowers the modern women of Pakistan. This season, Rehar’s vision involved a mash-up of futuristic visuals blending up with bold embellishments, “The Fifth Dimension”. The collection is about being dressed courageously. The dynamic color palette is inspired from the cosmos far in the depths of the universe which symbolizes the freedom one has in today’s fast growing and adaptive era.
Iffat Omar participated in the designer’s showcase as a celebrity showstopper.
Zubia Zainab
Making her PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week debut, Zubia Zainab showcased her bridal collection titled “Dare to Dream”. For women who are audaciously feminine while being ambitious and are not afraid to break barriers, the collection emphasizes on outfits that are both feminine and also carry an edgy twist. “Dare to Dream” pays an ode to empowered brides who are determined to fulfill any path they choose in life even after marriage.
Ushna Shah participated in the designer’s showcase as a celebrity showstopper.
GROUPED BRIDAL SHOWCASE – 2 
Nida Azwer
Nida Azwer showcased her bridal collection titled “Anarkali”. Inspired from the rich Mughal heritage of art and textiles, Nida Azwer revives the age-old techniques of cuts and fine embroideries made in zardozi, marori, wasli, gota, kamdani, mirror work and fine silk threads and velvet work. Voluminous kalidars, angharkas and peshwases have been paired with magnificent farshi ghararas, lenghas, izars, and chooridaars that are complimented with richly worked dupattas and chaddars. In this collection, Nida Azwer stays true to her love for miniature paintings and Mughal Architecture, which are finely intertwined with delicate florals. The brand believes in creating heirloom pieces with immaculate detailing. The collection consists of 16 distinct designs for womenswear using rich jewel tones of rubies, sapphire, gold, and silver which are off white with lovely soft hues, with an option of pairing the separates in multiple ways. The “Anarkali” collection featured custom designer jewellery by Print Therapy.
Aquafina Rising Talent Showcase
Furthermore, the PFDC, in continuation of their consistent efforts to introduce fresh forces of fashion to the industry, brought to PLBW the Rising Talent showcase.
Indeed, the Rising Talent showcase has been mentored and curated directly by Chairperson of the PFDC, Sehyr Saigol. She worked individually with each designer to edit, structure, technically create, fabricate and develop new capsule collections with their designs having been adapted from their thesis presentations. The PFDC also financially incubated each designer, providing the financial wherewithal for each designer to produce their collections. This year, the Rising Talent showcase featured emerging designers Abbas Jamil, Elaha Ahmed, Mehak Yaqoob and Urwah Ali.
Abbas Jamil showcased his collection titled “The Dauphin of Versaille”. The collection was inspired by the interior of Versailles Palace and the glamourous lifestyle of last queen of France, Marie Antoinette, before French Revolution. The headgears, clothing style of Marie and the classical baroque interior of the palace were merged together to make the collection which also featured layers of fabrics, Swarovskis, pearls and crystals depicting the richness and delicacy of the collection.
Elaha Ahmed showcased her collection “Beauty in Ashes” as part of the Rising Talent showcase. Inspired by the fictional character of Daenerys Targaryen from the fantasy drama series, ‘Game of Thrones’, the collection portrays “self-made woman who are feminine yet resilient; such women bloom like roses from ashes & smoke.”
Mehak Yaqoob’s collection for PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week’s Rising Talent showcase, “Transmutation of Louis Trunk” was a fusion of structured Louis Vuitton’s trunks with the soft folds of Bisterband. Inspired from the great trunk master along the local style of travelling, the collection displayed a blend of eastern and western culture. The transformation of soft folds was shown through the elements of belts and buckles which gave an edge and uniqueness to the collection.
Urwah Ali’s collection for the Rising Talent showcased was titled ‘Masculine Femininity’. The collection highlighted the traits that accompany womanhood, those of grace and delicacy along with strength and power. Inspired from Deridda’s concept of binary opposition, the theme of Biker Ballerina by Rei Kawakubo was chosen and applied further to emphasize how woman are perfect example of this notion, being sensitive and intense at the same time.
Saira*Shakira
The finale for Day-1 of PFDC L’Oréal Paris Bridal Week 2019 was presented by the designer duo of Saira*Shakira who showcased their bridal couture collection titled “Kali – A Bloom”. A tale of a beautiful kali or a bloom that is in the process of growing and constantly changing to become more and more beautiful and mature with every passing moment, the collection features couture pieces with intricate work of crystals, pearls, gota and delicate sequin art in hues of pastels with a contrast of bright colors to lift the palette. The garments in the collection revolve around florals and nature, playing with traditional craftsmanship on pure fabrics, exploring the art and techniques of chatta patti and risham featuring floor length gowns in magical net, organza, tissue, silk and jamawaar fabrics embellished in crystals and pearls that shine bright from a distance.
Special Thanks to Lotus PR
