The Made in Pakistan Fashion Showcase 2017, in partnership with Trade Development Authority of Pakistan, entertained more than 700 foreign delegates from all five continents at the three-day fashion expo. Apart from giving the platform to seasoned designers and brands like Amir Adnan, Aamna Aqeel, Fnk Asia, Nova Leather, Hassan Riaz, Tena Durrani, Deepak Perwani, Jafferjees, Wardha Saleem, Zuria Dor, Adnan Pardesy, Nauman Arfeen, The Pink Tree Company, Maheen Khan (Gulabo), the event also promoted budding talent in the couture world. The exhibition intended to present export-worthy collections by eminent designers for the export markets by encouraging production of quality work in the local industry. An entire day of the event was dedicated to a millennial fashion segment where selected fashion students from Pakistani fashion institutes like PIFD, AIFD and TIP showcased their work. Sundus Talpur’s collection Supercar Regalia was inspired by the idea of having “the perfect dress to wear in a dream car”. The designer had selected four supercars and designed ready-to-wear apparel accordingly to sync with particular occasions and to match the car the model steps out from. Each garment showed a perfect blend of haute couture techniques, uniquely crafted for the new generation of super car owners. Salman Javed paid tribute to technology with Flux. The silicone infused apparels, embellished with unconventional materials like circuit panels and keys from peripheral devices on experimental textiles like plastic mesh, light reflective high visibility fabric and sand-blasted faux leather, were all inspired by the love of computers and video-gaming. Amna & Rida worked on the theme Ocean of Fantasy, with the colours of the dresses verbalising flows of the ocean. The cuts were focused on the theme as well to create a story. Zainab Khalid took the audience on an unusual experience that embraced the power of visual arts merged with numerical figures further fused with the minor overlooked details present within surroundings. Her silhouettes were derived from the mathematical graphs portraying acceptance to change, and she played around with blue, ochre and off-white colours in the collection. Sobia Halar’s presentation was one of the highlights of the event, as it revolved around the subject of child labour. The six-piece capsule entitled Broken Souls aimed to bring awareness about the destructive effects of child labour on the victim’s psyche and long-term emotional development, especially amongst Karachi’s myriad street children, and society’s abject denial of this systemic epidemic. Buoyed by a muted colour palette, including green, black and white, the collection used minimal embroidery but created drama and effect with the intricate interplay of pins, patch work and scorched fabric that was meant to represent the slow destruction of a street child’s soul. Farah Usman’s Transparent Shimmer included a range of heavily embellished luxury formals. The mix-n-match pieces created a buzz in the audience for the use of shimmer chiffon, zari net and cutwork on the fabrics, all of which are considerably light weight and see-through materials. The theme of the collection was transparency, hence, we saw dresses in sheen and jewelled crystal embroidery. Naina Bhagwati’s showcase was named Wood and was inspired by the same. Giving innovation top most priority, the dresses exhibited laser cuts on wooden textured raga zine, wood carving frame, 3D fabric manipulation and wooden cage designs on a muted colour palette including tints and shades of browns and mustard.