This Saturday, November 17, Pakistani design heavy weights Nickie Nina and Kamiar Rokni participated in one of Lahore’s premier charity fashion events, ‘9 women’ , held by the Lahore Grammar School Defence Campus in honour of the Depilex Smile Again Foundation .

This was a charity fashion event with a difference. The event concept required active participation from an exclusive panel of Lahore ’s top designers who personally trained students in design, cut, silhouette, colour, manufacture and retail over a period of time. The culmination of this training for Nickie Nina was exemplified at the show in its ‘Motherhood’ segment where Nickie Nina’s student trainees showcased three of their own creations inspired by the glamorous design duo on a ramp modelled by fellow students along with one original Nickie Nina number modelled by Iffat Omar.

Khawar Riaz is known as a star-maker par excellence and has been instrumental in making several careers Zara Sheikh, Farooq Mannan, Ahmed Butt, Arooj, Imran Abbas, Amina Shafat, Danial… the list of stars made by this star makers is endless. Having the Midas touch must make him feel ten feet tall!

“I love unconventional faces - faces that most other people wouldn’t consider exceptional. I sometimes get fascinated by a particular face and imagine how I could go about transforming it. For instance, when Ahmed and Zara came to me, no one would have thought that they had it in them to become models, but I saw their potential right then and there. I immediately knew that they would become the king and queen of the industry. But I had to work on them. I had to give them time, patience, and the right kind of environment. And then they just blossomed and these seemingly ordinary individuals became head-burning beauties. Stars need to be made into stars; there’s always a creator behind them”.

In a place like showbiz where careers are quite short-lived to procure numero uno status is difficult, but what is even more difficult is to sustain it. There is this general impression that Ather Shahzad have managed to keep the fire going, while Khawar’s work, on the other hand, is fast losing its edge.

How would you defend your decline?

“I think I am very successful in my own way. I am still surviving. Success does not lie in people’s praise but in your body of work - what you deliver. If you are satisfied from within, I believe you have achieved it. And this inner satisfaction is far better than keeping others happy, you have to be true to yourself and do what feels right. If you go against your inner being just for some worldly attainment, you will never be happy in the long run. People who play diplomatic games lead very disturbed personal lives. But that’s not the case with me. Thank God!” says Khawar with sheer confidence.

What is power? Who has it? How can you tell? These are questions that have no easy answers. Ask an assertive journalist, and you’ll hear a vehement dismissal of all glamour types and the list of powerful people whittling down to a stodgy industry bigwigs. Ask a starry-eyed showbiz fanatic and you’ll hear a bubbly eulogy for all the hot starlets who in reality would not even have the clout to wangle a solo project. So the dilemma remains.

Some women are determined to write their own fate. Like Helen of Troy or Marilyn Monre or Cleopatra or our very own Rani. Controversy dogs beauty and no one knows better than Vaneeza Ahmed. Her erratic lifestyle, her clandestine affairs, her phenomenal asking price, her politically correct mantra, her highly professional antics have all brought her more than her share of flak. When inquired she held head high… like all beautiful women do and took every query chin-up. And gave scathing replies of her own. In inimitable Vinny-style.

Consider yourself unlucky if you have missed Sarah Gandapur shoot, printed in a local tabloid, which was based on the Victorian Era with Ather Shahzad and Reema. From Lahore with love, Sarah is the latest to join our flourishing fashion scene. A few shoots and adequate clientele Sarah is on the ove. And it’s just the beginning. But again, well begun is half done. Isn’t it?

What is on your mind?
To be one of the very best designers in the world… and make my family and country proud.

Lux Style Awards 2004 : Sonu and Priyanka steal the thunder at Lollywood’s Oscars!

It was a night to remember for fans of icons from Bollywood and Lollywood.

Playing host to them and the stars were the organizers of the Lux Style Awards 2004 at Dubai’s lavishly extravagant Novotel Hotel, and Bollywood stars, including Sonu Nigam and Priyanka Chopra, did not disappoint.

Playback singer-cum actor Sonu Nigam carried the night so well that his fans were not fully satiated.

Sighs of, “I wish he had stayed on longer,” could be heard from many in the audience.

It’s not every day that you meet someone like Tooba. Enthusiastic but not vulnerable, upfront but not stubborn, savvy but not dumb; a girl who isn’t afraid of speaking her mind and who always delivers her best on the ramp or in front of the camera. Self-assured, Tooba knows what she wants in life and gets it. Impulsiveness and diplomacy are characteristics that are alien to her nature. But at the same time, honesty, sincerity, trust and confidence are her hallmarks.