Greenwich University Fashion Show: Dastaan e Ishq Part 2

Video of Greenwich University Fashion Show: Dastaan e Ishq Part 1

Fashion Show at Greenwich University.. Soul Searching

Well after the Pakistan Fashion Week 2012, I shifted to a more small scale fashion show done by Greenwich University.

 Greenwich University was celebrating its 25^th Silver Jubilee; hence the management had organized a lot of fun filled activities and events for the students, one of which was the much awaited and much talked about Greenwich Fashion Show entitled, “Soul Searching”.  

The tickets were expected be sold off at Rs 1000, but some sold it as low as Rs 400-500 to Rs 1500 as well and the event was a total sell out... People were begging to come to the fashion show… Extra chairs were put up for the people. I think it was more popular than Pakistan Fashion Week as well… 

Now coming to the fashion show, it was done by the class of Consumer Behavior under the supervision of their professor, Mr. Dewan Abdullah Farooqui. The groups were divided into three and each group had been given a particular theme. They were: Chaap Tilak who were the Mughals, the Roomi Nama who were the Persians and Dastaan-e-Ishq who were Sufis of Sindh and Punjab. Each group had to perform a small skit, dance and then hold a fashion show. The dress code of the event was white.

The fashion was held at Greenwich University Campus on Wednesday 18^th April 2012. The decoration was done by Marco Polo. The ramp was 40 feet in length. Sturdy tables stapled with panaflexes made the 40 feet ramp. There was an LED screen and smoke machine, with a lot of different lighting. There was also high security at and around the campus and everyone was stamped before they could enter the back courtyard of the campus for the fashion show. The seating was done was for 300 people. Each chair was covered with white cloth sticking to the theme and on each chair; the audience had to vote for the group they thought had done the best.

There were lots of photographers some were professional and some were our very own media students who I think took wonderful pictures some even better than the professionals. There were media coverage from Samaa, Aaj and other TV channels that were covering 25 years of Greenwich University.

The event started off at 9pm after the Isha prayers, with the Master of Ceremonies welcoming the guests and giving a brief introduction of what was in store for the audience. Mr. Dewan Abdullah made a speech and the audience saw a 9 minute video pertaining to Sufism. (It was an informative video).  

After the video, the first group (Chaap Tilak) was up for their fashion show.  One of the group members gave a speech of to what their fashion show was all about, who they were and what they were going to do. One of the group members sang a ghazal and soon after, a song from the famous movie, “Jodha Akbar” started playing and a couple performed a skit based on the song. Afterwards the Mughals ruled the ramp with their bright colored attires. They depicted all classes of people living in the Mughal Empire from Kings, Queens, and Princesses to paupers and thieves in their show. The girl’s jewelry were minimum as their clothes were loaded with heavy embroidery and they had used fabrics of velvet, banarsis and silks. The lads on the other hand were loaded in beads and bangles. The models were approached from the university only and they did a pretty awesome job at it. Their makeup was simple, nothing extravagant and suited their theme perfectly.  Their songs were a combination of instrumental and lyrics. Their finale was all the models walked out of the stage and the clapped and the group leader came out on stage and they all went back.

Roomi Nama started their show with a fusion of belly and Indian fused dance. Then the Persians stormed the ramp with their harem pants and embroidered sleeveless waist coats. The women were wearing flowing gowns with capris. The Persians had made their clothes from georgettes, chiffons and silk fabrics and had used dark night shades. Their jewelry was lovely and they had done the Persian make up of dark eyes and long lashes with jeweled boho head bands which completed their attires. They used Persian animals to become different from the others and used a falcon and a Persian kitten in their fashion show. Roomi Nama used professional models in their fashion show as well as using their friends in the university. Their finale was when all the group members walked down the ramp and went away in a u shaped. And at the end they did a combination of fireworks and buntings which would have been amazing if it would have been out in the open air as the fumes of the fireworks were very bad and a lot of people ran out searching for fresh air. It was no doubt a wonderful fashion show.

Because of the clutter on the ramp, the third group went on stage a bit late after the ramp was swept clean. The last group, Dastaan-e-Ishq got ready for their event. They used spotlights and depicted a love story of Heer Ranjha and got the most number of claps from the audiences. After the song interpretation, the Sufis got ready to rock the ramp. They got the concept of transition very easily. They first portrayed traditional clothes of both genders and made their one model transition into the modern world by holding on to a chador and spinning and changing into modern attire. Their modern attires were wacky and different from the traditional touch. This group also got Mr. Pakistan, Syed Fazal Elahi to become their show stopper where he posed and showed off his lean muscular body. This group used a combination of university students and outside friends to help them walk the ramp and choreograph their fashion show. Their models weren’t very pretty but they were all made beautiful with their makeup and accessories. They used their music to their fullest combination and the models were extremely synchronized with their songs and each member knew when to walk down the ramp. They used a variation of actions to get the audience to clap and enjoy.

Their finale was when all the models were on the ramp, then three girls dressed in white came out and spread out, similarly two boys dressed in black walked the ramp with their show stopper, clapped and walked away in two straight rows, with the fire buntings going on along the sides on the ramp. There was pitch dark black out and then a voice came, “ Abhi Show baqi hai” and out came all the dhol walas, performing their show. However, the dhol walas  could not capture the attention of the guest as they were playing very dull beat. That was the only flaw is Dastaan-e-Ishq’s fashion show.

After the fashion show, came the food mela, which was done in the outside courtyard. There were three stalls and each stall had something different to eat.

Before I forget, the first group Chaap Tilak (Mughals) won the most votes. Congratulations to them and to all the students of Consumer Behavior for doing an amazing lovely fashion show and all your hard work really showed on the ramp and back stage!!!