Believe it! Pakistani models and designers defied all odds and successfully put up a spectacular performance throughout the four-day event–at their 1st ever fashion week!Considering the well-known fact that Pakistani women are deemed as extremely traditional, it being a must–for them gorgeous beauties to don a sack-like covering known as a burqa and with them being practically held captive in their own homes, who would have thought this, was possible?
“This is our gesture of defiance to the Taliban,” said Ayesha Tammy Haq, the CEO of Fashion Pakistan Week. “There is a terrible problem of militancy and political upheaval … but that doesn’t mean that the country shuts down. That doesn’t mean that business comes to a halt.”
Sonya Battla, the first designer to show, presented a collection that she said celebrated strong women. She dismissed the fact that in more conservative parts of the country, her designs might get women driven out of town or stoned to death. “I’m a very brave woman,” said the 38-year-old designer. “I’m not going to be scared and no one’s going to judge me.”
Nadia Hussain, one of the nation’s top models, said she was not opposed to some censorship of overly raunchy outfits in Pakistan, but said creativity needed to shine through. “Censorship is not bad, it keeps our values and culture intact, but a little more space will really help our industry,” said the model, who has a degree in dentistry. “Despite all sorts of hurdles and difficulties our country faces, our designers are far more creative and our models are prettier than those of many other nations,” she boasted.
The brave and extremely talented designers paraded a stunning and (of course) out of the norm display of colourful designs; some having a traditional Pakistani touch and many others of bare backs and exposed navels! Male models were even spotted in shorts and sequined T-shirts. Gawk… “This does not represent what we are as a people,” designer Ayesha Tahir Masood said. “Only 0.001 percent of Pakistani women would wear these clothes, and then only in a controlled environment when drunk out of their minds.”
Here’s what went on at the Karachi Fashion Week 2009:
