KARACHI: Entertainment space is abuzz with one of the most-anticipated events of the year – Fashion Pakistan Week (FPW) – scheduled to open the drapes on Wednesday.
Despite doubts being expressed online and various prominent names criticising Pakistan Fashion Design Council for cutting the event short by a day, we are still very excited and very much looking forward to industry giants wowing us with their latest work.
The Spring/Summer 2017 event was earlier set to go on for three days – February 22, 23, and 24 – but the management brought it down to two days, and that too, for an important reason.
We spoke to uber-busy Maliha Rao on phone about it and asked her why it was important to change the dates.
"The decision comes with a rationale behind it; we need to promote teaching fashion!"
The eccentric fashion blogger, who is almost always seen sporting a red lipstick, explained that the newly-formed PFDC board collectively determined to funnel the finances towards scholarships for fashion-related studies and institutes that offer such courses.
"We had the funds for all three days, but we chose to put some aside for scholarships and fashion programs instead," she said, adding that schools engaged in these courses often face a lack of money, and are thus constrained from reaching a wider audience and providing required facilities.
The business of "fashion-teaching" is really significant for Pakistan, especially its youth, who Rao thinks are very talented but don't have proper outlets of creative expression.
"New blood needs to be fuelled," she believes since up-and-coming, budding fashionistas can help propel the industry forward and make Pakistan more impressionable.
The initiative definitely seems to be promising, given how six Pakistani fashion brands attended an "eight-month-long intensive training" under British Council's annual programme Fashion DNA: Pakistan. Comprising The Pink Tree Company, Gulabo, and Zuria Dor, among others, they then went to successfully showcase their designs in Fashion Scout segment of London Fashion Week.
This quite fittingly depicts how the burgeoning skill and creativity in young Pakistanis needs to be honed to perfection so that the nation can stay ahead, if not just relevant, in the race of glamour and ingenuity.
The Japanese cuisine-loving Rao hopes that this will be a commendable step forward to polish the local flair, which faces a dearth of opportunities to shine.
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