Pakistan Fashion Week London 2012

Pakistan Fashion Week takes place next week in London from the 25 - 27th May. Firstly, I think it's a bit misleading to call it a "fashion week" when it's actually a 3-day event and secondly, calling it "Pakistan Fashion Week" kind of implies that it's an event taking place in Pakistan. Aside from that, it looks like an event worthy of any asian fashion fan!

The venue for this "fashion week" is Kensington Great Hall and on show will be 30 different designers, including Umar Sayeed, Waseem Noor, Rana Noman, Rukhsana Nadeem, Maria B, Guls Style and Deepak Perwani.

Tickets start at £25 and can be purchased online through Chillitickets.com or the official Pakistan Fashion Week website.

Here are some photos from last year's London Pakistan Fashion Week which took place in September 2011.


Did anyone attend last year? What did you think?

Manchester Asian Wedding Show 2012 - first look

The Asian Lifestyle Wedding & Fashion Exhibition 2012 took place at the end of February this year in Manchester. In previous years this event had been held at Manchester Central (or the G-Mex centre as it is formerly known), however for 2012 the exhibition had a new location - Event City next to the Trafford Centre.

The new venue was certainly felt bigger and although there were lots of exhibitors, it did feel a bit "empty". Having said that, it was good to see some new clothing exhibitors who I hadn't heard of before, and even though I'm not a bride-to-be I must say I really liked some of the jewelled bridal bouquets on show.

As usual, the fashion was my main reason for attending, but I'm sad to report that I didn't stay for the whole fashion show. There were no seats and I got tired after an hour of being stood in the same place having to watch entertainers in between each collection. I know that the models need time to get changed, but this really tested my patience!

Thankfully, Utopia Photography had enough staying power to last the whole show and here are some of their photos from the catwalk:

Ironically, my favourite outfits were from collections I didn't get to see in person, Alankar Sarees, Je Roche and Amina Couture:

Je Roche

Alankar Sarees

Amina Couture

Here are some of the other collections:

Bombay Stores

Head Over Heels

Rukhsana Nadeem by Hinna Umair

Nimsay

I'll be posting more pics from each collection soon. Did you attend this event? What did you think?

Lenghas at Zarah Sra launch event London

Zarah Sra really did save the best for last with the collection of lenghas she showcased at her launch event.

From more moden, lighter embroidered lenghas like this blue and silver one below, to more lenghas with more traditional work, there was a lot of variety in the styles.

This gold lengha was a personal favourite of mine, I love the glitziness of the top!

Here's a pic of the designer herself, Zarah Sra, posing with two of her models. I'm guessing her outfit may be one of her own designs, that was very pretty too!

Designer: Zarah Sra
Photography: Shahid Malik
Choreography : Jaimal Mistry
Hair & Makeup: Lubna Rafiq
Jewelry: Jazzy Bindi
Supported by: PharmaClinix

View the rest of the show via the links below:
Zarah Sra saris
Zarah Sra salwar suits
Zarah Sra anarkali suits

Anarkali suits at the Zarah Sra launch event

Anarkali suits were next on the catwalk at the Zarah Sra launch event, held in London last week.

Starting with these two rich velvet suits, and then moving into patterened swatches and block colours, less was more when it came to embroidery.

Designer: Zarah Sra
Photography: Shahid Malik
Choreography : Jaimal Mistry
Hair & Makeup: Lubna Rafiq
Jewelry: Jazzy Bindi
Supported by: PharmaClinix

Don't forget to check out:
Zarah Sra sari collection
Zarah Sra shalwar suit collection

Zarah Sra Launch Collection - salwar suits

Next up on the catwalk at the Zarah Sra Couture launch event in London were the salwar suits.

These outfits were inspired by Zarah's love for Delhi and Punjab culture - Punjaban style salwars in gota, sequins, shorter feminine kameez's in raw silks (great if you're after a change from all long flowing Pakistani-style outfits!), velvet with Jodha Akbar influenced patterns and beautiful neck cuts, intricate gold antique borders and embroidery.

Designer: Zarah Sra
Photography: Shahid Malik
Choreography : Jaimal Mistry
Hair & Makeup: Lubna Rafiq
Jewelry: Jazzy Bindi
Supported by: PharmaClinix

If you like these outfits, make sure you also view the Zarah Sra sari collection which was also showcased at this launch event.

Zarah Sra Couture Launch - the saris

Last Friday, The Gloucester Hotel in Kensington London held host to the launch of a collection by designer Zarah Sra.

Guests were treated to four catwalk shows with entertainment in between and by all accounts it looks like it was a great event.

First up on the catwalk was the sari collection:

I didn't attend the show, but from the photos, it looks like a really well put-together event - professional models, hair and make-up which complemented the outfits rather than overshadowing them and I suppose it helps that I liked the clothes too!

Credits for the event go to -

Designer: Zarah Sra
Photography: Shahid Malik
Choreography : Jaimal Mistry
Hair & Makeup: Lubna Rafiq
Jewelry: Jazzy Bindi
Supported by: PharmaClinix


View the rest of the collection at the following links:
Zarah Sra showstopping lenghas
Zarah Sra anarkali outfits
Zarah Sra salwar suits

Khushboos by Chand at the Birmingham Asiana Bridal Show 2012

I recently posted photos from Khushboos by Chand at the London Asiana Bridal Show 2012, Khushboos also had two slots on the catwalk, in their hometown, at the Birmingham Asiana Bridal Show, in which they showcased a larger range of their asian bridalwear.

Here's a video of the show: