omar shahzad | Arsalan Iqbal

Hello all! There is a term that circulates around the fashion circuit at the advent of every season and that is ‘Fashion Week Fever’ and I literally was feverish during the course of FPW5. Like all true artists, I was extremely anxious and nervous about how Arsalan & Yahseer’s ‘Spectacle Blanc’ collection would turn out and be received by fellow bloggers and broadsheet journalists. I believed it was high time for me and the brand to take a giant leap forward and try to make it into the big league of designers. I needed to showcase a kick-ass collection with bona fide 100% positive and approving reviews.

I came up with an idea of using Kashmiri Kashidakari embroidery which is intricate, delicate and very rarely used in other parts of Pakistan, except for in Kashmir, because it is very expensive due to the brilliant craftsmanship. I extensively researched the idea of using Kashidakari and travelled to Muzaffarabad and other parts of Kashmir (India & Pakistan) of outfits would complement one another. Mr.”Kind” aka Zurain Imam helped me edit and complete the look for the outfits and then the genius Khawar Riaz helped to tweak and style the models in the final line-up. About 12 male models were flown in from Lahore only for my show to ensure that the collection looked really impressive on the ramp. My intuition to use them was spot-on and paid off remarkably well!

The collection earned positive and favourable reviews from all quarters. It all makes me feel so-oo over the moon right now! Everything fell into place smoothly and it was a beautiful experience all the way! But thinking about what I am going to create for “Arsalan Iqbal” A/W’13 collection makes me nervous as it again needs to be right on the money!

I am leaving you all with ramp pictures of Spectacle Blanc’ as well as my Red Carpet appearance. =P