After almost a year of event-abstinence as a result of the global coronavirus pandemic, Karachi based designer Zainab Chottani hosted the first show of 2021 and it was a welcome occasion for the hip and high heeled, who weathered a crisp winter skyline in boots and coats galore. Zainab’s solo presentation, an eclectic collection titled Bagh-e-Ishq, kicked off on a gorgeous dusky evening at the Jehangir Kothari Parade park. Following all government laid standard operating procedures, the event had a curtailed gathering of guests who all wore masks, fashion’s most coveted new accessory.

The show had a lively but intimate aura, set off right at the cusp of the golden hour; starry appearances by Hania Amir (who has also previously walked for Zainab Chottani) and Humayun Saeed gave the paparazzi some solid social media fodder. It was also refreshing to see the stars in the front row and not on the runway, where they have been seen all too often. The red carpet, runway and seating arrangement was all elegantly aligned along the sandstone Lady Lloyd Pier that cuts right through the centre of Bagh-Ibn-e-Qasim. The open-air landscape and the royal ambience of the majestic park was certainly an inspiration behind the choice of title for Zainab Chottani’s latest collection. The designer felt that she chose this name for her bridal collection given the vibe of the venue (also known as Bagh-Ibn-e-Qasim), the weather, and to evoke the theme of romance.

Starting from the choice of housewarming music to the decor of solid colored cushions on stone benches, the ambience was kept classic, with minimalist floral arrangements and no over the top elements.

Inspired by an amalgamation of the Mughal Era and Ottoman Empire, the Bagh-e-Ishq collection comprised a total of 50 different outfits for both women and men. The styles were essentially eastern, quintessentially Mughal in ethos, while the embroidery, motifs, patterns and prints took inspiration from the Ottoman Empire.

“I wanted to keep everything close to our heritage, celebrating the royalty of both (Mughal and Ottoman) eras,” Zainab elaborated, in a quick chat with Instep. She further explained what she had in mind for this collection, adding, “I have kept the cuts of the ghararas and farshi’s classic, close to our tradition and culture, but I have experimented with fabrics, embroidery and drapes.”

Pakistan’s top models Sadaf Kanwal and Aimal Khan opened the show as the classic bride and groom while several other models walked down the runway in pairs and showcased the outfits in choreographed twirls, which complimented the essence of romance, togetherness and bridal bliss.

The show had roughly four segments that seemed to be colour coded. The opening segment ranged from a palette of creams and pastels followed by silhouettes of indigo, then came the contrasted family of bright yellows and chartreuse, mint and emerald. The third segment focused on a supremely regal combination of black, red and gold outfits and then came the brilliantly dazzling peacock blues, magenta and azure.

The traditional live folk music played by Zia and Mujeeb, who flew in all the way from Hunza valley for the event, created quite the mood for the evening; it also rang in as motivational for life’s journey that newlywed couples begin on their wedding day. The musical duo played both Balochi, Persian and Urdu tunes that complimented the free flowing drapes, shawls, lehngas and dupattas as the models walked the ramp.

It’s noteworthy that for some of the wedding wear for women, there was an entire ensemble of outfits that had no dupattas, shawls or chunnis; it was all quite contemporary. In fact, this collection had several outfits for the modern 2021 bride that would allow her a lot of mobility, ease and comfort; case in point being the outfits topped with sleek waistcoats and jackets flaunting heavy embroidery. Moreover, there were pieces with pockets, cascading jackets, contrasting waistcoats and deep cut blouses with a focus bejewelled backlaces. Zainab has a huge international clientele and designs for destination weddings, apparent in the cultural diversity seen in the vast collection.

A stellar highlight from the showcase was one particular sari, fire yellow in colour, with azure overtones in which the pallu, blouse and border had embroidered zardozi work. Another outfit worth mentioning was the cantaloupe pink farshi gharara featuring offbeat pleats below the knee. The lehnga-sari had a heavily worked bright ‘vibgyor’ touch to it and amongst the bridal ensembles, the finale look had three intricate drapes: a chunni, dupatta and a net head veil.

Speaking about the canvas, the designer mentioned that she had chosen a wide variety of fabrics and mixed them to create every single piece. “We blended together a lot of fabrics, for instance brocade, French net and crushed fabric for dupattas which were a mix of both organza and silk. For the men’s range we created two-tone kataan kurtas, with fabrics varying from jacquard, brocade-based coats and some cotton silk kurtas.”

On being asked about her choice for keeping all the men’s sherwanis short in length, Zainab said that it was deliberate, and that she personally likes sherwanis to be above the knee. “Even though Eastern weddings tend to be exaggerated and glamorous, the events now are getting smaller and more intimate so I wanted to highlight royalty along with subtlety.”

Complementing the collection was the way the evening came together, right from the elaborate invites created by The Social Squad (who also handled the decor and art direction for the evening) to the thematic spread by Sofra. Fahd and Ayesha Nassr of The Social Squad, one has to say, have emerged as go-to planners for high end events. They’ve helped elevate the entire event experience, with their creatively conceptualised invites, decor and art direction. As for the collection styling, hair and makeup by the N Pro team (with N Gents for men) was flawless while the choreography by Team 021 was seamless, as always.

The evening concluded with an extended display of fireworks as the designer and her team of models walked the ramp for the final curtain call. Bagh-E-Ishq certainly set the bar high for forthcoming fashion shows for the year 2021, while complying with all standard operating procedures and ensuring the safety for all who attended the event.

More from Zainab Chottani’s show on Style pages    Photography by   Faisal   Farooqui