Islamabad: Pakistan's traditional cultural capital of Lahore received a much-needed dose of glamour last week as it played host to the country's second-ever Fashion Week.
Amid a backdrop of tight security including armed guards, police and airport-style scanning, dozens of models took to the catwalk to showcase the works of Pakistan's top 32 designers at the city's Royal Palm Golf and Country Club.
Over the past year or so, several cultural events, including the annual World Performing Arts festival, have been cancelled after receiving bomb threats from vigilante groups sympathetic to the Taliban. Last April, the Sri Lankan cricket team fled the country after coming under machine-gun and bazooka fire from terrorists in an attack that left eight dead.
Models sashayed down the aisle with bare arms and, in some cases, legs (at least to mid-thigh level). As they posed for the cameras and completed their pirouettes, the enthusiastic and fashion-starved audiences responded with approval.
The haute couture on display featured exotic blends of western, Pakistani, and Middle Eastern dress, including creative oversized interpretations of the traditional hijab. A male model wearing a simple white t-shirt emblazoned with "Je ne suis pas terroriste" (I am not a terrorist) brought into focus the show's political themes, or at least the self-awareness exhibited by some designers.
One of the main focuses of the show is promoting "indigenous design" to preserve the heritage of some of Pakistan's poor and conflict-hit areas such as Swat, a former tourist idyll that was the scene of an army operation last year, and the crafts of southern Punjab, said designer and organiser Hassan Shehryar Yasin.
New realisation
"This is a huge feat for Pakistan, given the total perception of Pakistan at present is dictated by the political and security situations. For people to realise we have a Fashion Week too, with so many great designers, is something very new to them," he said.
Kiran Malek, a British-Asian model who is also due to appear in London Fashion Week later this month, shared a similar view. "Security is a major concern and my boss asked me, ‘Are you mad? Aren't their bombs going off all the time there?' But we really needed this. People talk about Talibanisation but fashion is important and it's playing a big part in bringing change."
Whether a fashion show aimed at Pakistan's elite can really undercut extremism is a matter of debate.
