By Aamna Haider Isani

No one in the fashion industry reinvents as well or as frequently as Nabila. And she’s up for changing again as she will be stepping into television very soon. What will her program be about? Well, from what we’ve heard, she’ll be transforming people (live subjects?) on a reality show much on the lines of Extreme Makeover. The people will be given an image makeover from things as basic as a wardrobe change to procedures as radical as nose jobs.

Who are these people willing to be nip/tucked on the telly in Pakistan? We don’t know yet but we do hope see some familiar faces talking about the magical procedures that help them look the glorious way they do. Nabila, who has always been very vocal about cosmetic procedures – many of which she has admitted to undergoing herself – would undoubtedly be the best person to put this show together. She will be shooting from next month and the show is expected to air by March 2010.

In case you’re wondering, the program will be structured within Pakistan and will give viewers an interesting insight into this body sculpting business, which is all the rage these days. We may not be aware of it but more people in Pakistan are going under the knife for cosmetic reasons than we know!

Meanwhile, Nabila will be putting her own transformation (she recently lost more than 70 pounds) to good use as she has just modeled Sonya Battla’s latest collection for a local fashion magazine.

“I prefer to stay behind the lens,” she confirmed this information to Images on Sunday, “but I liked Sonya’s deconstructed abstract collection and decided to go for it.”

Labels on the ‘brandwagon’ to Lahore… finally

Labels may be one of the first multi-brand boutiques around, but until recently it was also the only one not to have branched out beyond one city; its existence was limited to Karachi. But the multi-brand fashion store will be opening in Lahore by the end of January, confirms fashion retailer Zahir Rahimtoola. It will be jumping on a fashionable smorgasbord that already has Ensemble, The PFDC Boulevard and The Designers amongst numerous other independent fashion stores.

While most boutiques in Lahore pop up on the stretch better known as M M Alam Road and a couple are sprinkling over the new Mall of Lahore, Labels will be opening in DHA’s Y-Block. The commercial ring here already boasts various fashion houses like Karma, Amir Adnan and Maria B. Labels should be a welcome addition for Lahore’s upbeat middle class, most of which resides in this area.

“Labels in Lahore will open as a franchise operation,” Zahir Rahimtoola spoke to Images on Sunday, “and we will be sending out a selection of our best selling brands like Sanam Chaudhri, Chamak, Jannat and Sadaf as well as a couple of new players. We do think the Lahore market is big enough to absorb this plus Labels has a different personality and does not compete with the other multi-retail stores. We’re taking a lot of Karachi prêt into Lahore, which we think is the missing link.”

Nadya Mistry will also be stocking at Labels, Lahore he confirmed.

So all you people who felt that business was going to continue taking a hit under the global economic recession, rest assure that fashion is here to stay. Brand awareness is on the rise and wearing unbranded clothes to a wedding, for instance, is now considered as uncool as putting your hair in a scrunchie or banana clip. So here’s to Zahir Rahimtoola, hoping that he will launch in a big way in Lahore. Because while fashion sells best from trendy stores, the only way it show its full potential is to be seen on a runway!

Courtesy: Dawn Images