Bridal Couture Week 2014 saw the much-awaited launch of Ali Xeeshan’s new bridal collection – Daastaan.

The Bridal Couture Week consisted of some very regal pieces reminiscent of an era long gone, presented with a nouveau twist. As the name suggests, this event was held to promote exceptional designers come together to showcase the best of bridal fashion, featuring trousseau collections that look nothing short of royal.
What’s the collection like – “What the Kings and Queens would wear” – is pretty much a definitive encapsulation of Ali Xeeshan’s Daastaan. There is absolutely nothing ordinary or regular about this collection.
Presented at – Bridal Couture Week 2014 , an event created for the best of Bridal’s to showcase their designs.
Inspired by – The ancient civilizations and the kings and queens thereof. The collection is a look at Ancient Eastern and Desi Civilizations, their opulent clothing and the attention to detail in clothing then. Specially noted are the rich weaves, fabrics and heavy use of multiple layers of clothing in one outfit.
Theme / Main colors and hues showcased – The collection is described as Bridal Luxe and comprises of mostly peaches, burnt oranges, reds, pale rose, ochre and creams for women, and blacks, blues, greens, maroons fused with secondary complimentary colors for men.

The collection –

When you think of ancient eastern civilizations, a huge number of fabrics like silk, velvet and zari work come to mind. Ali Xeeshan has used all this beautifully in his new collection that consists of lots of lehengas, ghaghras, shararas, nets, tulle, chiffon and georgette with lots of dull gold work and intricate patterns.

Replete with long trains and veils, lace and nets played a huge role in Daastaan. The headgear was paid special attention to, and showed both Eastern and Western influences in terms of motifs and illustrations used. Pearls and feathers were added to create a truly resplendent feel.

Sarees were not completely absent in the collection, though the absolute show-stealers were the gorgeously tailored cholis and the heavily – detailed lehengas. There was plenty of double-layering on the lower silhouette in the ladies collection.
The detailing on the fabrics showcased was mostly zari, dabka, kora, pitta and tilla. The use of gold threadwork and motifs was HUGE and almost every piece had a huge expanse of work done along the length of the outfit.

This collection also saw the return of dull gold and yellow in bridal wear both for men and women. The silhouettes of the lehengas were smooth and flowing, unlike the fish-cut and mermaid lehengas that gained momentum last year.
The men’s collection, though obviously more demure, saw some typical royal colors like blue and black. There was, however some experimentation with the usage of colors like yellow in mens wear.

A new trend could be the introduction of abstract, slightly more airy bottoms for men with the traditional sherwani instead of the usual muted black or cream chudidhar. The Daastaan collection showed these bottoms mostly in shades of yellow, paired with blue and black robes or fitted kurtas.

The show came to a close with Mehreen Syed signing off in a beautiful, traditional sharara and the designer himself made an appearance in his creation.

Daastaan was a guilty pleasure for those watching, it was a short peek into the opulence of ages past and a glimpse of royalty in an age where so many of us have only read about it.

We wish Ali Xeeshan all the best for Daastaan !