Hassan Sheheryar Yasin

Pakistani designer Hassan Sheheryar Yasin was definitely the star of the opening day of DIFW.

The HSY autumn winter '08 collection, which was launched in Pakistan last week, is a celebration of love with garments ranging from chic western wear to traditional saris and lehengas.

Yasin is determined to prove that Asian designers are as adept at doing western cuts as ethnic wear and his opening sequence made a clear statement. It had the women in sexy well cut mini dresses, flowing skirts, long dresses with leggings and the men in elegant sherwanis. The colours were white and black with a splash of silver.

Tunics and capris

His next segment had a beautiful collection of tunics of various lengths worn with capris. The delicate white embroidery on white silks and chiffons, soft pleats, ruches and bows and tiny silver motifs matched with beautiful bags made this collection extremely sophisticated and wearable for all occasions.

The show then moved on to smart trousers and tops in burnished gold, copper and black before shifting gears to present a colourful and ornamental ethnic range of churidars, shararas and bridal lehengas. The delicate handcrafted "jalli" work and embroidery was exquisite and the silhouettes sleek and sexy. These were complimented by the men's sherwanis with subtle tone on tone embroidery, a dash of gold or silver on the sleeves and brightly coloured lining on the jackets.

Harmonious blend

"Through my collection on this international platform I wanted to show the world that the Pakistani woman has many different facets and that we are a country with a lot of cultural diversity where the modern and traditional coexist hamoniously," said the designer.

'Thrilled'

Yasin believes that DIFW is a great idea because it gives designers from the entire region an opportunity to combine their efforts to put the region on the world's fashion map. "I am thrilled to get the chance to share the ramp with designers such as Suneet Varma and Walid Atallah," he said.