Fashion Forward Peshawar breaks Conventions
Peshawar geared up to host the first fashion week in the city in the year 2011. The reaction from the fashion community based in Karachi and Lahore was rather stereotypical and ironically identical to the stereotyped fashion week coverage received from the press all over the world. However, this has not been enough to dampen the spirits of the newly established Peshawar Fashion Council.
Small Steps
Peshawar Fashion Council member, Waqas Ahmed, stated that he had been involved with Style 360 for the duration of the past six years but when he first approached his friends present in the fashion industry; they all began to just laugh at him. Ahmed did not take it to heart since he was confident that if every important city could have a fashion week, then Peshawar was just as good as any city to host a fashion week. There was tons of talent hidden in the city that needed to be discovered and nourished. Several women designed and sold their clothes from custom boutiques and lots of photographers were present in the city also. Ahmed was aware that with the proper sort of attention from the media even these small scale designers had the possibility to become the next Khawar Riaz or Hassan Sheheryar Yasin.
He was careful not to make any sort of formal announcements right from the beginning since they were still in the initial stages of finalizing their media partner and logistics. He had a plan to dispel the image of Peshawar as being backward since it was a wrong notion.
Several Pakistanis gathered together at one place involved security risks, but Ahmed was sure that the security could be managed at a private hotel which would act as the venue for the event.
Peshawar Fashion Scene
Till date, Pakistan has only four scheduled fashion weeks, two of which as held each season from Pakistan Fashion Design Council and Fashion Pakistan, in the midst of many fashion events which are sponsored by corporations and the new additions of the Bridal Couture Week and the Islamabad Fashion Week. Just a minor portion of the society is able to participate and form avenues for business at such events and there remains major doubt regarding the business angle to the fashion industry which is going to be lost due to the rising number of fashion events. Moreover, in recent times, noted Pakistani models walked the ramp at a fashion show in selected modern and traditional dresses designed by students of a private university.
