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FEB 7: Maria.B designs flowed in non-stop. There was so much to see that the show, Fifth Element, seemed a little too short for a 45-minute catwalk. 

Divided into five sequences, a bridal finale, a sponsored Tetra Pak line, the show had a no-holds-barred line in keeping with the international trends.

 Every detail, right from the sets to the ramp and coordination was taken care of, except, the last-minute change in hair-styling. Maria wanted Humayun (at Tariq Amin) to give a Bohemian look to her models which was later changed around to simple let-loose braided strands. 

The show started with Maria’s range in whites, consisting short shirts on leather pants, ruffled white kurtas in black embroidery. Defying straight lines, Maria made use of asymmetrical cuts, nicely balanced with self-designed scarves and belts. Followed by aqua blues mixed ’n’ matched with earthen tones. A generous use of tussles on bags, hemlines and waistlines jazzed up the concept. Patched embroidery either on one leg or both was sported by relatively simple tops. In the same range, Natasha sported a beige biased bustier on appliqué trousers while ZQ wore a leather corsette with trappings of rabbit fur. Maria gave a warm and comfort feel to them. 

Not to be missed is Vinnie’s sea green layered kameez on flared sleeves in Maria’s pastel range. Natasha, in the same line, carried a peach coloured sari quite gracefully. The much awaited red collection came right before the blacks. Cherry reds mixed with oranges and maroons had more to say through its shimmer work and asymmetrical cuts. This time Gia Ali carried a red sari on a fuchsia top. Reds did really great till the blacks came along. Eight to nine outfits were made for this sequence out of which ZQ’s front-open net top on straight black pants, and a Natasha worn black georgette top encrusted with crystals and Swarovski diamonds stole the show.

Shahryar K. Rasik had his designs modelled by a rather low-profile Ali Tabish, Atif, Nael and Panni. Tariq Amin, however, was the only model who saved the day with his stare-in-the-face attitude on the ramp. The rest pulled a somewhat average show. 

The bridal finale made everybody sit up. Like the earlier ones, it was an elegantly choreographed sequence by Frieha Altaf. Here Shahryar Khan Rasik’s menswear gelled in well with Maria.B’s bridals. Apart from all the traditional work, going into the making of the joras, Maria and her design team made it a point to accessorise each with proper bridal pouches, bazo pattis and jewellery.

(Courtesy:The Nation)