Women who are December brides, bride’s best friends or serial sartorial stalkers are surely searching for bridal wear inspiration for the upcoming wedding season. While you don't want to look anything like a basic bride, we know that you don't even want to compromise on comfort. Luckily for you, we traversed borders to find something seriously out of the box, that promises style and comfort in equal measure. Last week, we attended Pakistan Fashion Design Council (PDFC) L’Oreal Paris Bridal Week in Lahore, a glamorous three-day event featuring the top Pakistani designers, models and fashionistas to take notes on some of the hottest bridal wear trends.
8 leading trends from Pakistan Bridal Week:
Raining Rainbows
Kamiar Rokni, Mish Lakhani, Nomi Ansari
No, you’re not reading this wrong. The rainbow trend has long since graduated from a 10 year old’s closet and entered major couture studios across the globe. At the PFDC L’Oreal fashion week, Pakistani designers reinterpreted this trend beautifully. What’s not to love about rainbow stripes and colour bursts rendered in the chicest, most approachable ways?
Rose Gold
Misha Lakhani, Faraz Mannan, Nida Azwer
When you thought designers had exhausted millennial pink to the point that even millennials found the hue too basic, they introduce the metallic version of this colour. We’re officially obsessed. All. Over. Again.
A touch of Ruffle
Faraz Mannan, Kamiar Rokni, Misha Lakhani
While the trend has been done to death in pret wear, how many brides have you spotted rollicking in ruffles?
The way they were used in bridal wear designs at PLBW was subtle and refreshing. Misha Lakhani used it on the hemline of a gharara, while Faraz Manan and Kamiar Rokni used them to amp up sleeves. The result was downright dreamy.
Zig To Your Zag
Misha Lakhani, Nida Azwer
Chevron is not going nowhere. In fact, designers Misha Lakhani and Nida Azwer used this bold, visual delight of a pattern in such varied and inspiring ways that we just couldn’t get enough.
Go lamé or go home
Faraz Mannan, Nida Azwer, Zainab Salman
If you really want to shine, go lamé. Woven with metallic threads, this is one fabric that doesn’t need much to stand out. At PLBW, designers used this fabric in a multitudinous ways, as kameezes, skirts and ghararas.
Hanging Sleeves
Faraz Mannan, HSY, Nomi Ansari
What happens when you combine medieval European fashion with contemporary Pakistani bridal wear? This. Ideal for brides who want to make a (floor) sweeping statement.
Lemon Loving
Hussain Rehar, Misha Lakhani, Zainab Salman
When bridal week gives you lemons, you should make a new wardrobe out of it. This summer colour has beautifully transitioned into a fall favourite of ours with how it was interpreted by designers, Hussain Rehar, Misha Lakhani and Zainab Salman.
Tukris
Kamiar Rokni, Misha Lakhani, Saira Shakira
Tukri literally translates to “a tiny piece.” The turkri work we’re obsessing over involves cutting fabric into tiny triangles and stitching them along the border in such a way that they jut out, creating an origami-esque 3D effect. Lakhani and Rokni gave this age-old craft a new-age twist by using them in monochrome as well as in multicolour.
Photographs: Faisal Farooqui/Firefly
