Prominent celebrities from the fashion and media fraternity gathered in LA recently for a fundraising fashion soirée.Our very own Ali Xeeshan, Zainab Chottani, Saniya Maskatiya and Huma Adnan presented their collections. It’s a good thing that the event was for goodwill and not open to critical appreciation, but the presentations by our very own fashion bigwigs disappointed big time.

Zainab Chottani
Better luck next time

No one knows how to put up an awe-inspiring show better than Zainab, which is why we just have high levels of expectation from her. Time and again, she has proven her mettle on local and international runways, and here, too, she presented the better of the four collections (if we absolutely must choose). Though evidently, the magic Zainab creates on the ramp was hugely missing this time!

Huma Adnan
A case of (bad) nostalgia

A designer can transport the audience to a different time with their breathtaking work, such is the power of art. But in Huma’s case, time travelled back to the past. Her pieces looked way too familiar, some resembled her previously showcased designs, while many boasted little to no innovation in them and looked obsolete. The couturier needs to open her idea box more often than not and definitely get more experimental with her work, we say that as we yawn over here.

Ali Xeeshan
Quirky gone wrong

The designer is well known for his quirky sense of aesthetics. That Ali loves using all the colours of a rainbow in his pieces is no secret, but more often than not, he gets the silhouettes right which makes them a visual treat. This time, it seems, he lost his touch of reality even more so; many of Ali’s dresses were ill-fitted and had too much going on in terms of cuts and prints. There wasn’t much of symmetry in the collection and the pieces seemed to be coming from different places. Better luck next time, Ali!

Saniya Maskatiya
Not a good fit

A look at these outfits and it is almost impossible to believe that these are designed by one of the most prominent fashion designers of Pakistan. Saniya’s love for silk is apparent in her work but this time she has taken it too far. Imagine three-piece suits (tops, trousers, formal tunics, pants, dupatta, all in silk) and imagine the cuts and shades being mediocre. What enhanced the dullness of her show was the hair styling and make-up, or the lack thereof, on the models.