Couture, Karachi-style

Forget the Taliban, think tailoring. Andrew Buncombe and Omar Waraich discover a silkier side to Pakistan

The designers were Pakistani, as were the models. Even the cotton from which some of the eye-catching couture was created was homegrown. And as Pakistan's first ever fashion week drew to a close, the message from the beautiful people gathered in Karachi was that this glamorous scene was as much a part of the country as headlines about bombs and terrorism.

"This has nothing to do with the militants. Fashion is a very serious business and we wanted to show the people of Pakistan and the people of the world what the fashion industry here can do. It's not for entertainment," said Ayesha Tammy Haq, the CEO of Fashion Pakistan Week. "There are problems all over the world ... In Italy there were problems but things never got cancelled. In Britain you had the IRA bombing places but things were not put off. If there is a message, it is that we stand tall in defiance and support our country."

With the backless gowns and bare shoulders on display in Karachi, catwalk watchers could have been forgiven for thinking they were elsewhere and not in a nation where many women cover their heads with scarves and most dress modestly.

Yet at the same time, there were plenty of reminders that this event was taking place in Pakistan. Twice, organisers had to postpone the event and when it finally went ahead, it was under super-tight security in a city which is itself no stranger to militant violence.

Some of the biggest applause was reserved for the designer Ismail Farid, whose collection, Salute, was introduced as a tribute to the members of the country's armed forces. Many of his models wore eye make-up similar to combat face camouflage.

Another designer, Sonia Battla, entitled her collection Karachi Conflict. She said her clothes had been designed to reflect her experiences living in a city of 12 million people that could sometimes be chaotic and yet offered many "beautiful moments".

"We are living with the conflict, we are living with the reality of war. And of course it affects you inside," she said. "But I wanted to say that we are going on, we are a lot more than just this."

Unlike Paris or Milan, there were no foreign designers or buyers. The organisers had decided not to invite them, given the precarious security situation. "Who is going to come here with such negative stuff going on?" said the designer Tabassum Mughal. "Those who are here already are leaving."

But many involved in the inaugural fashion week said that simply having been able to hold a successful event was itself a very positive step.

Deepak Perwani, a Karachi-based designer, said bluntly: "We, as a country, have been through so much bullshit that we don't care. The show had to go on."