Karachi’s colours, cultural influences and changing fashion identity took centre stage at ‘Kaleidoscopic Karachi’.
The showcase was held as part of LAAM Fashion Week 2026 at the Indus Valley School of Art and Architecture. It brought several leading fashion houses together on one runway while celebrating Pakistan’s fashion photography history.
Collections by Deepak Perwani, Wardha Saleem, Khaadi, The Pink Tree Company and Sana Safinaz featured prominently during the event. Together, they presented different interpretations of Karachi’s evolving visual identity.
Eastern and Western Styles Meet on the Runway
The collections blended eastern and western silhouettes while exploring Karachi’s colours, contrasts and changing fashion trends.
As a result, the runway reflected the city’s diverse character through different approaches to clothing and design. Each participating fashion house brought its own interpretation of Karachi’s distinctive cultural and visual landscape.
The event also attracted personalities from Pakistan’s fashion and entertainment industries. Among those present were Sharmila Farooqi, Aly Khan, Sarwat Gillani, Fahad Mirza, Maheen Khan, Preshay Adnan and Zainab Qayyum.
Meanwhile, the appearance of two prominent 1990s models became one of the evening’s highlights.
Fariha Altaf and Simi Pasha returned to the runway, recalling an important period in Pakistan’s fashion history. Their appearance connected the industry’s earlier era with its contemporary creative landscape.
HSY Highlights Karachi’s Fashion Potential
Fashion designer Hassan Sheheryar Yasin, widely known as HSY, welcomed the gathering of designers from across Pakistan.
Reflecting on the show, he said, “We just finished watching a show, where I felt so good that all the designers from Pakistan came together and saw the collections. We cheered each other up,” he said.
HSY also pointed to the creative potential displayed by Karachi during the event.
“Along with that, we saw the potential of Karachi, which I felt we haven’t seen in a long time,” he said.
Yasin began his career as a fashion choreographer in 1994. He later worked as both a choreographer and designer for shows in Pakistan and abroad.
His work included fashion events in Dubai, London, New York City and Toronto. In 2000, he launched his own fashion label, HSY.
The label initially focused on bridal and formal couture. It later became one of Pakistan’s recognised fashion brands, while Yasin introduced an HSY jewellery line in 2007.
LAAM Fashion Week Promotes Fashion Industry Growth
HSY also described LAAM Fashion Week as an important platform for Pakistan’s fashion industry.
“It’s a great platform. It’s a platform where fashion will continue to grow, and that’s the most important,” he said.
Co-created by LAAM and Design 651, LAAM Fashion Week aims to support the wider fashion ecosystem.
The platform combines LAAM’s e-commerce capabilities with Design 651’s strategic and creative leadership. It also seeks to support business development, cultural expression and retail opportunities across the fashion community.
Tapu Javeri’s Photography Retrospective
Photography also played a major role during the event through a retrospective dedicated to renowned photographer Tapu Javeri.
The exhibition celebrated four decades of Javeri’s work. It featured a selection of his memorable photographs from different periods of Pakistani fashion.
The photographs offered a visual record of how Pakistan’s fashion industry has developed over the years. They also showed how its aesthetics and creative approaches have changed.
Javeri reflected on the earlier days of fashion photography, when taking pictures required greater care and patience.
“There was a time when photography was done with a lot of effort. There were only a few photographs on one roll, so you had to be very careful while taking a picture that it did not go wrong,” he said.
From Film Photography to Artificial Intelligence
According to Javeri, the arrival of Photoshop significantly changed photography. It made image editing easier and more accessible to photographers.
Now, he believes the industry is entering another major transformation through artificial intelligence.
AI allows users to create millions of images and modify almost any element within a photograph. Consequently, traditional photography faces new questions about its role and identity.
Javeri said photography itself is changing as artificial intelligence becomes increasingly influential in image creation and editing.
Karachi’s Fashion Past Meets Its Future
‘Kaleidoscopic Karachi’ ultimately brought several sides of the city together through fashion and photography.
The event connected established designers, emerging creative influences and personalities from Pakistan’s fashion and entertainment industries. At the same time, Javeri’s retrospective linked contemporary fashion with decades of photographic history.
Through its colours, cultural influences and changing styles, the showcase presented Karachi as a city with multiple creative identities. It also placed the city’s fashion past and present on the same runway.
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