Raishma - queen of asian fusion fashion also does traditional

When you think about asian bridalwear by Raishma, you probably get images of beautiful east-west fusion gowns like the one above.

However, on a recent visit to Raishma store on Green Street in East London, I found something entirely different!

It was this outfit above which caught my eye whilst flicking through her album of client photos. It immediately stood out to me as this was a side to Raishma's work which I'd never seen before.

Here's another outfit she designed for the same bride:

Perhaps I've spent too much time looking at photos from Pakistani designers, but I'm really starting to like these long kameez designs and I'm pleased to see that more asian fashion designers in the UK are creating outfits which follow this trend, because not all brides have the time or the resources to get their outfits from abroad.

Here are some new outfits which have been posted on the official Raishma facebook fanpage:

I'm also quite liking the jacket-style tops at the moment like in this design above.

To see more of Raishma's designs, both fusion and traditional, visit Raishma.com

Shazia's Bridal at the 2011 Pakistan Fashion Extravaganza

The collection by Shazia's Bridal Gallery, was perhaps the most bridal out of all the designers at the 2011 Pakistan Fashion Extravaganza. There wasn't a single casual outfit in sight!

Some of these designs were showcased at last year's Montage fashion show (click here to view) but there was also some new designs:

You can't help but notice how heavily embroidered these outfits are, in some cases I think they overpower the models, like this beige/brown design below:

I must say I prefered the maxi dresses like these two above compared to the lehngas.

Now onto the really really heavy bridal lehngas. I don't really like either of these two, I don't think the blue works in the first one ad the second one has so much going on you hardly see the shape.

This white, gold and black lehnga was a bit more to my liking, although it still looks a little too over the top!

A big thanks to Shahid Malik Photography for these photos.

Gulzeb at the 2011 Pakistan Fashion Extravaganza

Gul Zeb, by designer Gulzeb Asif, was one of the designers this year's Pakistan Fashion Extravaganza who I hadn't heard of before. Her collection included jumpsuits, mini-dresses and your more traditional pakistani-style outfits:

Out of these two jumpsuits I prefer the silvery white one on the right, I think it looks a little more flattering than the other one.

This gold outfit was my favourite from this collection, and I quite liked the black and gold outfit which followed, although it looks a little shapeless in this photo.

The show finished with these two halter-neck designs which I'm not really a fan of. This top design works for the models but not sure it would be so forgiving on a "normal" person.

Photo credits go to Shahid Malik Photography.

HSY at the 2011 Pakistan Fashion Extravaganza

Here's the collection by HSY for the Pakistan Fashion Extravaganza 2011.

The show started with these monochrome print his and hers outfits

Don't really like either of these next two outfits, the sleeves on the mens' outfit don't work for me, and with the womens' outfit although I have no problems with the print it looks too loose fitted and a bit masculine.

These next two outfits confuse me a little, is it a sari? is a lehnga?

This was my favourite outfit from HSY, I like the colours, the embroidery and I like the shape...the one thing I'd change if I was to wear this myself would be to have the jacket buttoned-down a little further to cover my stomach, or alternatively wear a longer top underneath. (I've actually found another version of this outfit with a longer top on the HSY facebook page which you can view here)

Now onto the final outfit, which to me looks like it has too much going on, it just doesn't come across as having that elegance of all the other outfits.

A big thanks to Shahid Malik Photography for these photos.

Asim Jofa at the Pakistan Fashion Extravaganza 2011

Here's the collection from Asim Jofa which was showcased on the catwalk at the 2011 Pakistan Fashion Extravaganza.

Most of the outfits followed the trend of full-length tops worn with trousers however the first outfit was a little different with it's drape design:

This outfit stood out to me compared to all the others because it has the split going up the front.

It's interesting how "plain" some of the outfits in this collection are, and by "plain" I mean not very heavily embroidered and in just one colour. The outfit on the right above is one example of this, as are the blue and yellow outfits from the start of the show. Personally if I was going to wear an outfit like this, I'd make sure I added some accessories.

This collection is available to view and buy in the UK at O'nitaa in London, and when I visited the store a few months ago, this designer's work was highlighted to me because of the craftsmanship - there wasn't a single loose thread any of the outfits and the embroidery was finished to the highest standard so there wasn't that "sticky" effect you often get when embroidery sticks to other fabrics.

You can find out more about Asim Jofa via the Asim Jofa Facebook Fanpage.
A big thanks to Shahid Malik Photography for these photos.

Maria B at the Pakistan Fashion Extravaganza 2011

Here's the Maria B collection from the 2011 Pakistan Fashion Extravaganza. All her models were styled with jewelled headbands and whilst they looked ok on some of the models, overall this isn't a look I'd aspire to!

Her collection started with these two silky outfits:

These next four outfits I'm sure I've seen on catwalks by Maria B before, but they must be quite popular to be included again:

I really don't like the sleeves on this bridal outfit, although aside from that I think it's beautiful:

Usually I'm all about bright colours, but I really liked these last three pastel-y almost pearly outfits:

A big thanks to Shahid Malik Photography for these photos.