Nadya Mistry
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Nadya Mistry, fashion designer
Friday the 13th is lucky for some
By Amal Fatima Uppal
The word ‘mubarak’ will never be the same for me again as it will constantly bring to mind Nadya Mistry’s new Mubarak collection exhibited in Lahore last week on Friday the 13th.
As stated in her opening speech, the Karachi-based designer has created waves in the local fashion industry, but when considering the ambience at the show, it casts doubt on the veracity of the statement.
One cannot say the same for the styling and the outfits though. The former by Annie of Allenora was perfect, transporting the boldness and colour of the ’70s into ’07. Big hair, even bigger eyes combined with loud-coloured provocative lips lent themselves to the theme in question.
Mubarak by Nadya Mistry consisted of the peacock motif taken another step forward and her combination of the Arabian nights’ Scheherazade imagery with the leave-something-to-the-imagination old West and old English styles — all coming out in a garish, bold and an ultimately stage collection.
The Mubarak collection made one wonder as to what lengths Nadya Mistry had gone to obtain a balance between couture and pret. She managed to make each piece look like it could be worn anywhere, yet had enough richness through embellishment and garish colours to make it a signature statement
The assortment started out with a model stomping her way down the runway dressed in a fusion of East and West, a bold statement made with local fabric combined with French cuts to make pageboy pantaloons, embellished flamboyantly and completed with black calf-length boots. Although not entirely appealing to the local masses, it certainly allowed one an insight into the designer’s sense of creativity.
The collection made one wonder as to what lengths the designer had gone to obtain a balance between couture and pret. She managed to make each piece look like it could be worn anywhere, yet had enough richness through embellishment and garish colours to make it a signature statement.
Although the peacock motif has been done repeatedly, it takes skill to make it stand out the way it did this time in Nadya’s collection. Giving credit where it is due, I am glad to say that the designer did not simply over-embellish yards and yards of cloth, but instead picked out one image and concentrated on making it the centre of attention. The use of colours made the collection border on dramatic stage wear, as one can expect when one tries to replicate the beauty of nature. Here, she managed to balance it out with immaculate cuts, which are a credit to her French influence and training, and her use of toned, more classic soft gold hues.
Those in the crowd certainly approved as many people who have been seen with their own noses to the fashion grindstone were spotted — from music icon Abrarul Haq to many designers, including representatives from the Pakistan School of Fashion Design. All in all, the evening was a success due to Nadya harmonising her creativity with classic cuts and softness. She proved herself to be innovative and brought many things into the collection such as her two-sided tunic kameez and her use of chunri flowing from an embellished bustier.
While the cuts and the outfits themselves were a statement to behold, one must say the choreography was wanting for more, as many felt that in modelling it is not always about the thinnest and prettiest figure. Some of the models lacked the grace and/or the attitude when it came to their displaying the outfits. However, the strong presence of some more renowned catwalkers had an overall mellowing effect.
Covered by FTV, the majority of those who gave their opinion to the channel spoke in the designer’s favour. But compared to her other collections, Mubarak is not as inspiring as one would have imagined. After all, Nadya Mistry always manages to monopolise our attention whenever she comes up with something new.
