Pinning hopes on Pakistan Fashion Week C

It doesn't end there. Fashion shows are not about showing to a select gathering of corporate clients who will enjoy the sight of beautiful women as they enjoy their lobster thermidors, not knowing the difference between a balero and a balconnet; neither are they about product launches and models rising out of shampoo bottles or shows held on foreign lands achieving nothing but twenty minutes of glory.

Fashion in the twenty first century is about business and Pakistan Fashion Week will be about generating a steady cycle of investment.

PFW may not be able to cleanse internal politics but as far as the shows go, it will put all designers on an equal footing, to be approved for prime positioning by a group of experts. The power game of musical chairs will be over and only the 'selected few' will be allowed a place on the hot seat. Designers will not be allowed to judge other designers and the vague words like 'pioneers', 'traditionalists' and 'revivalists' will be replaced by 'those who got orders' and 'those who didn't'.

Fashion terminology will evolve, classifying designers with successful shows (and hopefully eventual sales) as the new breed of pioneers.

Fashion heroes will be selling to the buyers not just the wealthy begums. After all, stalwarts like Oscar de la Renta, Georgio Armani, Karl Lagerfeld and Ralph Lauren haven't made it to the top for initiating trends three decades ago. They haven't become iconic by operating a business from one solitary store or by never showing a true collection at all. There will be no self acclaimed kings at PFW and this process of selection will separate the curd from the cream.

Then there will be surprises. Designers that have always been backbenchers may just may it to the spotlight and newcomers with a promise of ingenuity will most definitely be welcomed on board. One would hope to see Vinnie show her prêt line at PFW, for one. One would want to see Maheen Karim and Munib Nawaz on the ramp and hopefully there will be other rising stars too.

The general scale of expansion will be huge. To certify smooth operations, the entire industry will have to be roped in - stylists, photographers and choreographers et al without pride or prejudices being hurt. That means no more one man shows; no more dictation of who won't work with whom.

Designers will have the privilege to choose their own groups but in essence everyone will be working together for the same cause.

Then a group of approximately forty models will have to be culled from Pakistan and that'll mean intensive auditioning and training. The tall, young and well toned ones will walk forward and unprofessional misfits will be shown the back door. Results will unleash a troupe of beauties onto the much starved runways.

IMG will also be looking for a face from Pakistan to add to IMG models.

These small steps will constitute a massive step forward for fashion.

The media juggernaut that develops around the time PFW is held will be crackling. Front row celebrities will be brought in and/or subsequently created to raise show profiles.

Media coverage will be huge and for once, the fashion industry will understand that a designer is only as big as the business he generates and the media attention he gets.

PFW most certainly will make headlines with the international media, as well as being boosted by local newspapers. The coverage, as one expects, will be eye candy.

Other than the established fashion community, PFW can also benefit fashion students. Not only can they be brought in to intern backstage as this hands on experience would be better than any text book research, but it could also eventually benefit talented individuals in a scheme similar to the Council of Fashion Designers of America that has a regular CFDA scholarship that sponsors brilliant students to establish their own businesses after they graduate.

There really is a lot to look forward to and again, this change will excite some while also making others insecure. But PFW will provide excellent learning ground for the entire industry before it grows strong enough to stand on its own two feet. No one in Pakistan has the experience of operating an event this big, but the reassurance one needs to digest a project this huge comes with IMG. Pakistan Fashion Week is exactly what local fashion needs to truly become an industry.