Why squeezing up FPW 2017 is not that bad an idea

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 expressed online and various prominent names criticising the Fashion Pakistan Council for cutting the event short by a day, we are still very excited and restlessly looking forward to industry giants to wow us with their latest work.

The Spring/Summer 2017 event was earlier set 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 the uber-busy Maliha Rao, relationship manager at Fashion Pakistan Council, on phone 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 wearing a red lipstick, explained that the newly-formed board of FPC 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 of those 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 for creative expression.

“New blood needs to be fuelled,” she believes, as 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 the 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.

Rao hopes that this will be a commendable step forward to polish the local flair, which faces a dearth of opportunities to shine.