In terms of initiation, the eighties rules. Despite the garish technicolour, the empire sleeves, the culottes and the pantaloons, the decade had a regal bearing, one that crashed in with force and would leave its mark for years to come. With this tsunamic wave swept in the making of an industry in Pakistan and when the tide retreated, it left behind the ultimate diva: ATIYA KHAN. As a model Atiya allowed a free imaginative interaction with the clothes she wore. She was versatile, unorthodox and unpredictable, retiring at an unforgivably young age of 21 to explore more stimulating pastures. As an ad-film maker, Atiya was a disciple, learning on the job, allowing her creative prowess to unleash a freedom, which had been stifled in the world of modeling. But it wasn’t long before film-making too reached a point of saturation and she abandoned the career without a second thought, substituting it with the more challenging role of motherhood. Atiya’s recent comeback as a model, member of the fashion fraternity and as a research analyst on Sufism proves that time has lent her a diversity without diminishing her panache.

As the heads of India and Pakistan prepare for a meeting in New York that is expected to boost peace talks, a wedding show back home is propelling people-to-people contact — often cited by analysts as the bulwark of any permanent peace deal.

In its sixth year, Bridal Asia is more an India-Pakistan bonhomie forum than deal-snapping trade fair.

“We believe in people and spreading love between them,” smiled Divya Gurwara, who has got a 40-member delegation from across the border at her three-day exhibition at the Indian capital’s Taj Palace Hotel.

“The commerce happens,” Gurwara told IANS.

In a historic fashion, business and diplomatic move, Faiza Samee, the Pakistani designer who once dressed former prime minister Benazir Bhutto for her wedding, has begun retailing in Delhi, the first ever for a Pakistani designer in India.

Samee, who will be selling at the Carma fashion boutique in Mehrauli, has even made saris for the first time in her more than two-decade fashion career, especially for the India launch.

“This is a dream come true,” Samee told IANS in an interview. “People have been telling for 10 years to sell in India. But there were too many complications and I wanted everything to be just right.