Pakistan Fashion Week Was a Study in the Intricate and the Sublime

In April, Pakistan was host to two separate fashion weeks: one in Karachi at the beginning of the month, and another in Lahore held by the Pakistan Fashion Design Council, which just ended this week. If your idea of fashion perfection is centered purely on craft and textiles for luxuriating, I invite you to look at what some designers showed at these two events, and let the gorgeousness explode like little fireworks in the back of your eyeballs. Because this shit is GOOD.

FOR EXAMPLE: above, models draped in what can only be described as finery by design vet Shamaeel Ansari: intricately embroidered capes and trousers in detailed brocade of burnished gold and rich maroons. They’re clothes made for carrying yourself like a royal, no matter where you are, but also they have a lot of give and leeway; please let me introduce you to my one true love on earth, these wide-leg contrast silk trousers that drape like a single caftan for each leg. Perhaps without something structured it might seem frivolous, which is why Ansari gave the top half a popped Dracula collar with an armhole-assisted shawl crafted for always keeping it at the same comfortable level. HOW DO I PROCURE THIS.

Intricate detailing was everywhere, though—in the stunning, elegant motion of seemingly weightless shawls made by Zara Shahjahan (below). She has a bridal line, as well, which is even more extravagant than this; you can imagine based on the painstakingness of the beadwork, tiny stars on a navy sky.