Five designers and countless versions of Karachi came together on the runway as Laam Fashion Week Presents brought its kaleidoscopic vision to life.
It is genuinely difficult to capture Karachi in just one picture. The city shifts completely depending on where you are standing, what the mood is like and what your memory can conjure. It also depends on the time. Are you being greeted by morning glory or afternoon wave (when the city is bustling with a different energy) or the magic of night. The city has so many layers that it would be unfair to lump it under one bracket.
Late last month, on September 26, LAAM Fashion Week tapped into that energy by bringing five completely different interpretations of the city together under one roof for Kaleidoscopic Karachi, the second edition of its LFW Presents format and its very first showcase outside Lahore.
The venue itself made the whole concept feel almost inevitable. The Nusserwanjee Buil-ding at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture is a piece of Karachi’s history that has travelled through time. Built back in 1903 for the city’s first mayor, Jamshed Nusserwanjee, it originally stood in Kharadar before it was carefully dismantled and moved to the IVS campus. IVS calls the move a unique conservation project, with the building eventually being rebuilt where it stands today.
Speaking about the vision behind the event, Maheen Kardar, Executive Director Designer Experience and Curation for LFW Presents, described a city that you can only really understand by peeling back its many layers, “I wanted Kaleidoscopic Karachi to feel less like a fashion showcase and more like stepping into the city itself: layered, restless, colourful and full of contradictions. I pictured five designers, five distinct interpretations, each revealing a different fragment of Karachi, until those fragments come together to form something larger than any one perspective. That is the beauty of a kaleidoscope: every turn gives you a new image, yet somehow, you always recognise the city.”
Even before the runway officially kicked off, guests were taken on a different kind of trip through the city. Tapu Javeri’s A Four-Decade Fashion Retrospective brought together a collection of images from his personal archive, tracing decades of Pakistani fashion and the changing Karachi around it. Javeri has spent much of his career documenting the city and its style culture, and the exhibition served as a perfect reminder that Karachi’s deep bond with fashion is nothing new. “Karachi is where I live and breathe. It’s also a part of my creativity. The exhibition I am doing for Kaleidoscopic Karachi is a sort of a walk down memory lane,” said Tapu Javeri.
Then, the clothes took centre stage. Deepak Perwani opened with Cocktail Hour, taking us back to a time when Karachi’s nightlife felt a lot more glamorous. He kept the colours simple but dialled up the drama with sleek Western cuts and plenty of sparkle and glitter.
Before the show, he said his goal was “less is more,” and that approach showed on the runway in a polished tribute to the city’s mid-century nightlife. But the real highlight was the return of ’80s runway icons Frieha Altaf, Seemi Pasha and Atiya Khan. Seeing them walk the ramp together felt like watching fashion history come to life, perfectly capturing that nostalgic vibe he was aiming for.
While Perwani found inspiration in the night, Wardha Saleem looked at the city’s buildings. Her collection, Bander Road Se Kemari, was all about Karachi’s architecture. She took the shapes of local balconies, arches, façades and historic buildings and turned them into wearable art. Instead of feeling old-school, it had a fresh, street-style energy with modern silhouettes and prints.
The Pink Tree Company shifted the focus from architecture to the makers themselves. Their collection, Hands That Craft, was a celebration of the traditional techniques keeping Pakistan’s textile history alive; think block printing, dyeing, embroidery, gota and kaamdani. They blended all these skills into a colourful showcase that put craftsmanship front and centre. To top it off, Aliya Iqbal Naqvi closed the show as its showstopper, looking incredible in a vibrant lehenga.
Khaadi then brought a different vibe to the runway. Their collection, Karachi – It’s Complicated, took the city’s chaotic energy quite literally. It was a mix of clashing colours, woven fabrics and bold prints, moving between minimalist restraint and bolder, more dramatic looks. Eman Suleman walked the runway for Khaadi in a striking black-and-white striped top with colourful embellishment, paired with a flowing black skirt scattered with pink florals. They also blended Chapter 2 into the mix, which let Khaadi’s artsier side sit right alongside the everyday street style they are famous for.
The finale belonged to Sana Safinaz with Mastaani, a stunning 20-piece heritage collection that pushed the evening into couture and occasionwear. Rich textures, intricate handwork, deep colours and heavy embellishments came together in fluid drapes and heavy lehengas. It kept that signature Sana Safinaz love for heritage while giving it a more dramatic edge. “Our Mastaani line is a heritage line. We are inherently modernist. It’s a lot about textures, a lot of handwork and strong colours. Also, it’s very cinematic,” said Sana Hashwani. The diversity on the runway was also mirrored by the room itself.
Designers, models, actors, stylists, fashion veterans, influencers and members of Karachi’s creative community gathered at IVS. Among them were Bunto Kazmi, Faiza Samee, Fahad Mirza, Gohar Rasheed, Iqra Aziz, Kamiar Rokni, Kubra Khan, Nadia Hussain, Saniya Maskatiya, Sarwat Gillani, Shehla Chatoor, Sharmila Faruqui, Sonya Battla, Zainab Chotani and Zainab Qayyum.
At the end of the day, what made the Kaleidoscopic Karachi show work so well wasn’t that the five collections matched. In fact, it was the exact opposite. That’s the interesting thing about a kaleidoscope: it doesn’t just show you one perfect, static picture. It keeps turning and every single time it does, you see something completely new.
One moment, Karachi looked glamorous and nostalgic, and the next, it was colourful, chaotic or architectural. Perhaps that is the most honest way to capture a city that has never really been just one thing.
