- S. HASANY

Who knew it would take me a good 3 hours to understand after coming out, that the whole idea was to give designers a platform to showcase their work at. As literal as the name, it truly was a Designers Lounge where today, under the spotlight were 4 designers exhibiting their EID prêt (as one of them says).

As I recall, I remember walking inside with no clue of how to go about covering the exhibition but in the good hands of Tayyab Bombal, a renowned designer and the host to the exhibition, I ended up getting an insight in the fashion industry; how it worked, and how the public regardless of the new trend the designers were trying to bring in, were hesitant to accept it but more importantly how they still found a way to cater all that the public needed as well as demanded.

As soon as you enter the shop you’re welcomed by the designs exhibited by Kiran Sheraz, Sadia Elia, Tazeem Nauman, Rabiya Amersy, all formal and ready to be worn to the various weddings, nikkahs, engagements and formal parties that are lined up as the holy month comes to an end but as pretty,elegant and chic as they were, there was a certain amount of chaos that could be seen in their work, which Tayyab Bombal refers to as confusion in the acceptance of the new trend by the public.

Though comfortable in the much accepted trend of long kurtas the public now demands something new yet refuses to accept the new trend of short kurtas with cigarette pants. Bombal says, “It’s the designers job to bring in new trend, and even though the public wants to see and wear something new, we all know that change isn’t accepted overnight. It takes a good 12 months at the least…”

Rabiya Amersy, who’s cliental is the younger lot, had more of long kurtas compared to the short ones showcased at the Designers Lounge in Ocean Mall, which is hosting the Eid Bazaar in the last 5 days of Ramadan from 12 in the afternoon till 3 in the morning.  Understanding the confusion she tried to have a design for everybody. With bright colors of summer and made from silk chiffon and lace, the designs in the beginning included short flowing shirts with a variety of cuts for the younger lot which thought it was more elegant and then the long kurtas at the end for an older group of people who still preferred the older trend. She even had the very formal coat style kurtas hanging on the other side.
“my sister Fizza and I when designing kept in mind that everything looks very similar nowadays, so we tried to showcase a variety of designs which catered to all age groups.”

Tazeem Nauman a designer from Saudi Arabia calls her exhibition “a fusion of the past trends”.  She had kurtas with the not so long ago trend of plazos and churidars with the addition of the tie and dye dupattas. Her designs were catering all age groups as they included the traditional long kurtas with the long sleeves as well as the modern day trend of a sleeveless gown, dull gold in color which looked very elegant. Her color palette was mostly in pastels as she used embroidery, lace, shimmering sequence and chiffon to give her designs a more formal look.

Sadiya Ailya had a variety in her exhibition; catering to all ages and events she had the pastel colored short shirts which had embroidery done on the sleeves and the “daman” as well as the brightly colored and heavy embroidered formal wear leaving it on the coat style to bring in the trend of short shirts.

And last but definitely not the least we have Kiran Sheraz who thought that there was no confusion. She strongly believed that the short kurtas had taken over and were going very strong and that showed in her designs as well.  Also in pastels her color palette was divided into greens yellows blues and purples. Her short sleeveless kurtas had a very modern look as they had beads and floral embroidery done in the front. Her gowns on the other side, made in silk had a very minimalistic approach; a jewel of the same color was all that she used to give them a very elegant yet simple touch.  
“They want something which can be utilized after the Eid celebrations. I made sure my designs see to that, keeping it traditional while still giving it a western touch.”

So if anyone of you is looking for reasonably priced both formal and informal goods before Eid, you better head to the Designers lounge before they run out!