Banning Fashion Shows

Re:rafay

``Lastly, one should not forget that fashion shows have, at least in Pakistan, developed an interesting characteristic of their own: they are also a welcome distraction for a population starved of entertainment. ``

Yeh.that.characteristic.that.they.are.the.entertainment.of.the.elite.and.the.rich.......that.is.0.0001.%.of.the.population......wow....!!!...mr.rafay.you.would.definitely.defend.the.rights.of.the.common.and.poor.in.the.future......ridicolous.issue....as.always.....!!!!

cheers
raza

Well done Rafay, you`ll make a decent lawyer. You missed one key point however. Its an indication of our skewed moral, social and political values, as Pakistanis, that we leap at the chance to condem the limitation of our hedonism, whilst we turn a blind eye to the excesses of our elite...us. For Pakistan as a nation, Fashion shows should be very low priority, right down there with tai chi classes and media law. Its sowing the seeds of a revolution when you have an elite strutting around at balls and fashion shows, whilst the poor scrounge for bread. Priorities were never a strong point in Pakistan.

re: Fashion industry in South Asia
Comparisons are not necessarily bad. In the following article, author seems to say that Indian fashion industry is being highly westernised while Paki industry still retains its unique cultural flavor. I would say Pak industry is slowly evolving its own unique character. Catapulting to western glitter and being a copycat is easy. I leave it to the readers to decide which is preferable.
http://www.jang.com.pk/thenews/

``No vamps please, we`re Pakistani

The Lux Carnival de Couture showcased high fashion from India and Pakistan and introduced Dior products to the local market. It was a night when the Indian village belle went to Bollywood and worshipped Helen while the Pakistani socialite went to the ball looking elegant and refined


By Muniba Kamal

The cream of society and MNCs turned up to attend the Lux Carnival de Couture in droves. There was so much to look forward to. Sana Safinaz showed for the first time in three years. There was Faiza Samee who presented a collection and most important of all, the Indians were in town - Suneet Verma and Rina Dhaka on a Pakistani ramp. And the icing on the cake for Vogue reading fashionistas, were the six dresses and a variety of handbags from Christian Dior. Brought to Pakistan by Zeba Husain in order to raise funds for the Teacher`s Resource Center, the carnival was definitely a cut above corporate sponsored variety shows where fashion is used just to give that necessary sizzle to yet another dreary show.

The Carnival de Couture was done right, with a labyrinth created of white marquee that led into an all white auditorium fashioned out of cloth, a white ramp with the sponsor`s logo done subtly on the side. A frosted glass display with the logos of the designers occupied centre stage. One got a feeling that one was about to witness high fashion for a change. With Frieha Altaf in charge of choreography you expected nothing less. And speaking of high fashion let`s talk about Christian Dior first.

The House of Dior had sent in a couple of t-shirts, six dresses and handbags. The handbags, sling on and clutch variety, small and large were gorgeous. Funky but sophisticated, making a statement yet understated, it was vintage Dior with a new age twist. Bags that any woman would want to own, but reserved for those who can shell out 50,000 rupees for a piece of world class design. The dresses on the other hand disappointed. Made of beautiful material that clung to the body, some were slashed through and most featured rosettes; the dresses that were the finale of the carnival did not have the desired impact. The only model that looked good wearing them was Iraj. She has that bohemian attitude in oodles and the height to carry it all off. Plus her looks are not typically Pakistani at all. She is the closest we can get to Naomi Campbell. And none of our models have that painfully thin anorexic frame that was required to carry off the Dior dresses. But that is a cultural difference. Goldie Hawn didn`t look all that good when she wore a sari to the Oscars. And, let`s agree that Vinny looks far better in Rizwan Beyg than Princess Di, for all her golden beauty, ever did.

If anything, the finale served to accentuate the theme of the show. The show that was touted as a message of peace was a riotous celebration of difference - the difference between East and West as highlighted by the Dior segment and most of all, the difference between Pakistan and India. There was a marked difference between all the collections presented. One was subtle, the other gauche. One incorporated tradition while one subverted it. One was about vamps and vixens, the other about grace and dignity.

True fashion watchers looked forward to the show, to the fact that two of our best would be sharing the catwalk with two internationally acclaimed Indian designers. Yes, this show was as anticipated by the glitterati of Pakistan as anything from across the border always is. Pakistan`s liberal lobby has a visceral fascination with India that is matched by the longing of most secular Indians to be one with Pakistan. Expectations were running high. Curiosity was at its peak and (perhaps, not so unexpectedly) the cat got killed as soon as the Suneet Verma creations strode onto the catwalk.

It took sometime for the eye to adjust to the myriad colors of these Bollywood style concoctions. East met West and went to a disco with crystals and sequins and feathers all jumbling together to create outfits that were on a positively different plain but stuff that most Pakistanis wouldn`t be caught dead in. Aaminah Haq had to carry off a black sari heavily embroidered with glitzy orange that might have worked if the blouse had been plainer. But no, it was more heavily worked than the sari itself. Nadia Hussain strode out a black sari set ablaze with silver psychedelia with the green of green sari and a blouse that was black but clashed with it. Tariq Amin gave hair and make up that complimented the look. Some models had hair slicked back while feathers stole upwards. Others had straight blow dries. All looked beautiful.

Then followed a yellow sari with blue, green and pink toned gota. ZQ looked thoroughly uncomfortable in a blue, feathery bodice with a feathered skirt swishing around her. The blouses were tube tops and saris met dresses, it was the veritable Verma mix of East and West, done in while speeding over the highway of his imagination that stretches from YSL (his first training ground) through Nicole Farhi and ultimately leads to Bollywood. Someone said his clothes were theatrical. I thought they were filmi, more Isha Koppikar than Sushmita Sen at that. The Bollywood influence was clear. The show began with `Marhaba Marhaba` from Jaanasheen the new Feroz Khan film. The only wearable outfit was patchwork pants with strips of mirrorwork, yellow, red, black and white that were paired with a smart black top. The pants fit right and fell right, which is a rarity for most Pakistani designers. The embellishments were the monstrosities that did them in.

Speaking at a press conference the next day, Verma said that his collection was called `vamp` and catered to women who were confident enough to be sexy. It seems that the cutting edge of Indian fashion is cutting the Indianness out of India in a bid to change the culture of India to cater to the largely Westernised world market.

Different strokes for different folks.

The Pakistani fashion industry may not be as well developed as India`s but that night it more than held its own. Ultimately, the night belonged to Sana and Safinaz. The Sana Safinaz woman has always been a girl`s girl managing to turn heads with ease. She revels in her femininity and is sexy without being in your face. She is thin, and wears their fitted spaghetti strapped outfits with decorum. She is rather like Sana and Safinaz themselves who shy away from hype, go into hiding for three years and come out with a collection that swept this couture carnival despite the Suneet Verma, Rina Dhaka, Faiza Samee`s of the couture world. As for the House of Dior: it will take a long time for them to find any kind of market here.

Sana Safinaz showed exactly how tradition can be fused with chic to create a sensation. They started off on a restrained but funky note. Beginning unexpectedly with a nod to Chinese culture they made use of toned-down Chinese influence to blend with the style of Sana Safinaz, presenting truly tasteful pieces inspired by the orient in black with a hint of red and red with a hint of black, the straight pants and thigh length kameezes that became more ostentatious. The first few outfits were Sana Safinaz with a twist. Using shimmering silks that made the dabka less flashy than it would look on bright colours they created luminous clothes straight pants and knee length shirts. Kameezes that skimmed the knee made of material that floated, in the earthy tones Sana and Safinaz have long favoured. Amin had spruced the models up for a no-fuss look that accentuated their inherent beauty that left it up to the classy clothes to amplify it; which they did, and how. The girls glided out looking like queens. And as they walked past and one got a glimpse of the back, and that was what made these outfits. Mostly dupatta less, the backs were cut low, and were innovative. No two looked the same. This was eastern sexiness at its contemporary best.

Sana and Safinaz`s collection elicited claps and hoots galore from the crowd. Then there was silence as Rina Dhaka`s clothes made an appearance. Consisting entirely of short kameezes with see-through churidaars, it was a collection where tradition screamed with rage with the torture imposed on it by experimentation. All the colours of Holi mixed up in every lurid outfit and some with motifs running straight down the middle of the kameez in a disjointed fashion. Amin`s make up turned from natural to dramatic with a distinct touch of native Americana. It complimented the outfits perfectly with a strip of brilliant colour dashed strategically on the models` faces. If Red Indians ever play Holi, this is what it would look like.

I didn`t think much of those see-through churidaars. For a start there were a lot of them. Hot pink, turquoise, bright orange and yellow clones of one single brain wave. What was the idea? Perhaps they were meant to be socially acceptable mini dresses. One might have been seen as innovation, but the sameness of Dhaka`s entire collection was one long flogging of a very dead horse. It is essential to maintain tradition in some form or the other, while experimentation should be fluid.

Faiza Samee, one of the great traditionalists that one has seen, also decided to experiment. And it just did not work. She opened with two velvet outfits, one camel coloured and one bright blue big on large motifs in dull gold. It did not work. Then came some new ghararas that were beautiful, coupled with ill-fitting tops that did not go with them. Samee is trying new cuts and not doing it well. She is somewhat of a guardian at the gates of dawn. Samee has been so heavily into tradition. She was responsible for injecting the puritanism of the Mughal era back into Pakistan`s fashion scene. This is one hell of an achievement and one that needs to be maintained. Maintaining it would be a far greater service to Pakistani fashion than her unfortunate foray into western wear. Bronze silk pedal pushers with a layer of pink sticking out worn with short tops, bolero jackets (remember them?) with bright scarves flying off the neck are definitely not looks for the new millennium. Classic Faiza Samee, came in at the end and one sat back with a sigh of relief at the beauty of what she has been doing successfully for years. Amin had given the girls an uncluttered but more dramatic look for Samee`s collection that goes with the richness of her clothes. During the latter part of the collection it was the old Faiza Samee that ruled. Those beautiful vibrant, blended colours. The same cut. The same beautiful embroidery. The same timelessness that is the hallmark of our heritage. It is heartening that younger, more with it designers realize the treasure trove that is our tradition and are not willing to let it go.

The next day Sana Hashwani standing in for the designer duo Sana Safinaz spoke about the dabka revival they aimed for with this collection. She said it was important to them, just because dabka was becoming extinct. So far, their hallmark had been threadwork and crystals. The work has always been beautiful and intricate, but it has been the same. This year they went for dabka in a big way and what they did with it was the cutting edge of tradition. Suneet Verma was all praises for Sana Safinaz and said that years ago, Indian fashion also had the sameness to it that Pakistani fashion has today. Sana agreed with him and we do too. However, that is not the end of the story. Since our respective independence from the colonial masters, the Indian cookie has crumbled in a way completely different to Pakistan`s.

Despite the fact that both are third world countries, India has embraced Westernisation unabashedly as far as the media is concerned. The penetration of channels like Star, MTV and V into India has given them a lot of experience technologically, but imposed on them a Western format. They have opened themselves up to the world and are welcoming it into Indian exotica with open arms. Pakistan on the other hand is taking its first tentative steps towards liberalism, as it contends with the MMA, issues like the LFO and fights the war on terror both externally and internally. Pakistan has an essentially conservative society as indeed does India. What India has and which helps its fashion industry evolve is a massive population with a burgeoning middle class. To be fashionable requires money and Indian society has more of that. But it also has designers willing to cater to the middle class, whereas few Pakistani designers deign to do so.

There are thousands of designers in India. Suneet Verma is one of the more exclusive ones, but there, all designers are not clamouring to cater to high society as ours by and large are. In India, even designers like Verma have come out with a pret collection to cater to expand their market base. Most of our designers are very fond of cribbing about their limited access to the Indian market. None of them have managed to successfully break into the international market either. A fashion week in Delhi and a stray exhibition in Paris later, they come back home while their mind wanders to the international circuit.

The Pakistan market lies forgotten under the debris of bad publicity that so many buy into even within its borders. In dreams of penetrating the Indian market, it is forgotten that at the moment Pakistan is the seventh most populous country in the world. Karachi, Lahore and Islamabad combined have a population of over 15 million people. Pakistani designers can create a local market, but they have not taken on that challenge. The fact that there are at least four designers with shops in Zamzama and Park Towers simultaneously speaks volumes for the closed mind set of our fashion industry. Unless the local market grows, the world, or even India will not take them seriously. Apart from the mullah brigade and the Pakistan government`s perennially changing stance on fashion, what the Pakistani fashion industry is most in danger of, is being suffocated by its own exclusivity. ``
Sridhar

#91 to 93: I will request everybody to be little polite. No point is served by calling names,symbols. This place people write and neither Sridhar or YLH need each others certificate. No purpose is served by acrimony.
Romair is right 1600 Rs. is not trivial sum for most poor people. At same time 10 to 20 million people have absolutely no problem in spending 1600 Rs. Deepak Parwani`s designed clothes are designed for poor people. There is nothing wrong in spending money, that is best way to help poor in practical terms. It pains me to see the unofficial ``prohibition`` lavish marriages as our industry had great profitable business and poor people suffer by not having work in Hospitality Industry. It appears my idea of bringing well to do Sindhi hindus from India for tour of their ancestral lands may have chance. It is beneficial to Sindhi Hindus to see their long gone lands from where their ancestors came and see by eyes. Even today Jews go to visit Eastern Europe and including Germany where (just like Sindh practically no Sindhi Hindus left)no jews are left. Same way Sindhi Hindus will likw to visit. Let us see if it has any merit. Only time will decide if we can get steady flow of Hindu Sindhi visitors as access and travel improves.

Rsidhar,

How dishonest of you to answer in the way you did.

The question is not of the criticism of Pakistan`s fashion industry... I am not a part of the fashion industry and I am Pakistan`s biggest critic where it needs to be criticized and I believe I have proved that much on chowk...

The issue is your constant comparison of Pakistan with India... and your recurring ultimate conclusion (India is so much better than Pakistan.. Pakistan sucks) ... this attitude is indicative of your diseased mentality... I asked you why everything to you is an India vs Pakistan comparison... and you had no answer.

As for maturity.... I am sure others will agree that I don`t need a certificate of maturity from anyone who is insecure about his phallic size, or their country`s for that matter.

-YLH

re: Mantolives various posts
Looks like you have some more growing up to do. I used to think you are mature but apparently not.
You can`t take a criticism! I posted those websites written by Pakis. One is from Dawn and the other was also a Paki website. Have problems? Get in touch with the writers of those articles.
Did i say that Pak does not have a good fashion industry? You need to chill a bit and go back go studying whatever it is in history that you were studying.
Gosh! What a bum?
Sridhar

Romair,

Indeed... waisay you should check out the Lahore outlet next time you are in Pakistan.

As for jhuggi wallahs... I just said that even my new maid who is from a jhuggi is well versed in the whos who of the fashion industry...

Rs 1600 is an affordable price for the middle class. Price ranges are pretty good and unlike what rsidhar would have us believe the fashion culture is taking root.

Mantolives: The comments about the fashion industry are interesting. I went to Pakistan and bought some clothes from Deepak Parwani. They were excellent. Now I get all my shirts sent here from his Islamabad outlet (I think they are stitched in Karachi). For US $30, (1600 rupees) you can get a specially stitched and styled shirt, suited to your specific size (not to the generic medium, small, large sizes), in exactly the color and material you want. That kind of personalized stitching in North America would be around US $150 -250/per shirt. And it would be hard to find such good stitching to begin with.

They need to market their stuff a lot more. They have tiny little outlets with an odd salesperson, who takes your order on a piece of paper, sends it to Karachi and gets your shirt. Most of the shirts aren`t even displayed correctly. And they have a huge shortage of material. It took me three incorrect tries to finally get everything the way I wanted. They kept making the shirt in the wrong material. After that, it has been perfect.

They have a website, but I think it they opened up sales outlets here, and somehow figured out the logistics of it all, they could outsell any of the local speciality tailors, who would charge five times their price.

But, for anyone interested, in North America and earning in dollars, if you can get your material, size, cloth etc. figured out, I would highly recommend Deepak Parwani. Though I am not quite sure, how someone living in jhuggi could afford a Rs. 1600 shirt in Pakistan.

``While i hate this kind of comparisons, i have to put things in perspective, for the sake of verity. ``

On the contrary I think you thrive on such comparisons. Did I even mention your precious `Indian fashion industry` ?

This is a sign of a deep seated insecurity and bigotry of another kind. Or otherwise how pathetic one`s life has to be, to feel good by making such random comparisons... It seems like you are obsessed with proving how much better your precious India is...

Why must everything end up in a desire by Indians to prove that they are all so better than us? Last I checked you fellas were 10 times bigger than us in population... why such phallic insecurity then?

Rsidhar you have no clue about the Pakistan`s fashion industry... and I am sorry a few random searches on the internet is not going to cut it.

Your arrogance and ignorance is appalling...

HSY a famous Pakistani designer from Lahore had a few fashion shows in Europe .... notable amongst those attending were leading names of the fashion world and the political world, including Madelline albright.

Similarly Deepak Perwani, a Pakistani (Hindu) fashion designer from Karachi, is widely acclaimed as one of the leading designers in Asia. Among his clients ... some of the famous names in Hollywood ...

Karma.... by Maheen and Kami also from Karachi is also an acclaimed label with outlet soon in New York city ...

Maria B , a grad of the famed Pakistan school of fashion design, has recently opened an outlet in New York... and none of it is desi clothes for a desi market.

Bhatti is the leading fashion designer in Paris... his clients include Jacques Chirac and the leading names of the french movie industry... Ghani Chaudhry is a leading name in Saville Row.

.... Pakistan`s fashion industry has come a long way, especially with the famous Pakistan school of fashion which due to its affiliations with the best parisian designers, is considered one of the leading schools in the world. Now with the new Pakistani fashion channels coming up ... the entire Pakistani population has become susceptible to fashion.


Ofcourse Pakistan`s industry will be smaller than India... because of the simple demographic reasons but to claim that Pakistan`s fashion indsutry will die out and to base such a stupid assertion on article which doesn`t even say what rsidhar seems to be saying is a sign of a complexed and diseased mentality....


Grow up and give up these stupid Pakistan vs India matches. Leave us Pakistanis the f-ck alone.

-YLH

re: fashion industry: Pak versus India
While i hate this kind of comparisons, i have to put things in perspective, for the sake of verity.
I think Pak`s fashion industry is small compared to India`s. It also has a long way to go before it is accepted by public in general. It is not enough if some upper middle class ``elite`` fashion designers showcase their products for selected audience. Are these designers making an impact? Are there products creating a demand in public and being lapped up by garment industry. Models, fashion shows are all ultimately designed to create awareness of latest trends and thereby, create a demand. Is that happening in Pak?
I am sure Pak`s fashion scene is well and kicking but, as i said, it is small and not making any impact on the garment industry or creating any ripples among the consumers.
And, its global impact is minsicule.

http://www.dawn.com/2003/07/26/ed.htm#3

``A Pakistan fashion week


The week-long India Fashion Week 2003 in Mumbai attracted close to 50,000 visitors. Fifty-eight designers showcased their ready-to-wear collections in the `by invitation only` event, which also hosted interactive talks with leading business people from the industry. Unlike individual couture showings, which showcase one designer`s new collection, this fashion week was meant to be more trade-oriented as the clothes shown represented samples which could then be produced in larger quantities for sale at wider outlets, locally and globally.

Pakistan has much to learn from events like these. It needs to realize that fashion cannot be limited to a minuscule clientele who can afford five-digit prices. The alienation of the common consumer only restricts the market and hampers the development of fashion as an industry. Pakistan`s fashion designers need to work collectively and move towards getting recognition as an industry under the government`s new trade policy whose aim is to promote `industry clusters`. In 1996, the Export Promotion Bureau did well by setting up a fashion school in Lahore as it recognized that fashion had a substantial role to play in generating revenue. Pakistani fashion has a headstart, as it has some of the most talented designers creating innovative couture. The textile industry produces some of the finest cotton in the world, and the local apparel industry would benefit tremendously if designers lent their creativity to it. Apart from creating job opportunities and generating foreign exchange, Pakistani fashion will boost the country`s image in the global community. Fashion designers need to rise above personal differences and work together in setting up a fashion council whose objective should be to organize a Pakistan fashion week. By roping in textile industry heavyweights, corporations and government support, Pakistani fashion can find a niche on the global ramps. ``

A pakistani website compares the Pak fashion scene with India`s and comes to some interesting conclusions:

http://www.megaeast.com/default.asp?section=fashion&page=indo-pak.con
Excerpts:

``A Pakistan School of Fashion Design graduate, designer Nomi Ansari sees things differently, believing that the trademark of good fashion is commercial viability. “What’s the point of coming up with revolutionary designs that no one is going to wear?” he asks, as he emphasizes that his collections are almost always customer-friendly as well as design-friendly. In Nomi’s opinion, the reason Pakistani fashion does not even come close to competing with Indian fashion is that the former industry enjoys almost no support from the government. “True, the Export Promotion Bureau does help in arranging trade exhibitions and delegations abroad but a lot more needs to be done,” explains Nomi, as he points out that the Indian government has helped enormously in building overseas contacts for their fashion designers.``

``Venezza Ahmed is currently the biggest name in Pakistan’s modelling industry. When asked why our industry has continually remained many places behind their Indian counterparts, she draws attention to the fact that India is four times the size of Pakistan. “India has a huge population, and their fashion industry is 54 years old, while ours is a 10-year-old stripling. If you compare models from the two countries, one realises the difference in stature of the two industries – for instance an average model working in India does about 70 shows a year. I don’t think I’ve done 70 shows in my entire modelling career!”

And in conclusion, the website has this to say:

``It seems that in the minds of the maestros themselves, the Pakistan fashion industry needs some radical changes before it can come anywhere near standing shoulder-to-shoulder with its bigger brother over the border. Whether easing its exclusivity, garnering government help, deflecting social criticism, or regulating the industry the message is clear: Pakistan’s trendy threads business is full of talent but suffers from a lack of regulation and stifling social mores. The potential is there, and we know that the industry is still young, but without institutional change it just won’t grow into the giant of international fashion that India has become. ``

While Pak fashion fashion scene has suffered a major setback after the ban on fashion shows, Indian fashion industry is slowly being noticed internationally. It is a long way off before this gets translated into something concrete but it has started to happen.
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/south_asia/3075419.stm

With increasing trade and people to people interactions between India and Pak, one hopes the 2 industries will benefit from each other. Pak fashion scene has much to learn and benefit from India`s.
Sridhar

Pakistanis talk about their fashion industry like Indians do their IT industry. Why do I get the felling that Indians have the better thing to brag about? If Pakistanis had any sense, they would envy Indians at least on this one difference....

rsidhar,


Your point about Pakistani fashion industry is however completely invalid. Fashion Industry is very popular in Pakistan, and middle class has taken to it.

Pakistan for example has its own fashion channel dedicated to fashion called style duniya which has a universal viewership.... in the lower middle class to middle class shops of anarkali you find pictures and designs of popular Pakistani designers and models like vinnie aaminah, and Iraj. Why even our new maid, the daughter of the erstwhile garbageman Mr. Kala Mian, knows the names of top supermodels. So if we have to go by `evidence` ... then I would say that even the jhuggiwallahs have taken to following the events of the fashion world.

I suggest you read up on the Pakistani fashion industry before making generalizations about it.

-YLH

re:#83 by Mantolives
I am afraid my point is still valid. Indian middle class (upper, lower all) have taken to fashion as was never done before.
http://newstodaynet.com/19nov/ss1.htm

Excerpts:
``An unprecedented frenzy over the Indians winning the Miss Universe and Miss World titles in quick succession was whipped by the beaming of the glittering events through satellite television. The euphoria made every Indian feel beautiful, to forget the squalour, privation and daily drudgery as the nation gave a standing ovation to the beautiful girls, who were seen as pride of the country.

India, many suggested, had arrived on the international arena and had carved a niche for itself on the beauty scene, at least. The country never looked back since then and did not realise that it was accelerating itself towards a total cultural degradation, worshipping beauty exemplified in the form of female bodies, fair skin and male muscles.

Perhaps the dynamics of the pageants and the commerce behind them could not be comprehended by the average Indian that winning a crown at a beauty pageant became the dream of every little girl about town and was shared by her parents, relatives and friends. To cash in on the emerging trend, pageant organisers mushroomed to give flesh and blood to the collective dream just about everywhere, including slums, putting the nation on a beauty rush.

The contests provided a hunting ground for film makers looking for fresh faces and also for fashion show organisers - another breed that was proliferating then - to spot leggy potential models. Prior to that, ramps, too, were meant for the eyes of an affluent class of cognoscenti and it was haute coutre that was showcased with highly paid models from an exclusive club alone adorning them.

It was then a class thing, an elitist activity with everyone in it - designers, choreographers, agents and event managers - coming from the upper crust of society that which had its own morals and lifestyle, which was a far cry from that of traditional India. The average Indian had nothing to do with the ramp. He could not even have a peek into it.

F-TV came and changed everything upside down. Even the riff raff managed to have an eyeful of ramp shows, that too close up shots, and everyone knew what catwalking is all about, which led to the common man developing a taste for it and some among them aspiring to be part of that alien culture.

So the fashion show organiser found his feet, besides finding the legs to strut on the ramp, and many a local beauty contest offered a bridge to the local ramp. And another trend was born. Fashion pageants that saw beautiful things prancing with an artificial gait, a plastic smile and very little to cover them became a regular feature with even small time businessmen wishing to display their wares in the fashion of the elite.

Fashion shows thus became not just a national passtime but also a sort of socio-economic leveller - bridging the gaps between the upper and upper middle classes and the elite and those with elitist aspirations. Drawing its sustenance from globalisation and blatant commerciali sation, the trend drew more people from the middle classes with varied aspirations and less inhibitions, marking the breaking of middle-class value system. ``

I am not sure if every small or big city in Pakistan has a fashion show going on, in which girls of middle class are vying with one another to become beauty queens but, if i were to believe what i have read and heard, that is how it is in today`s India.
I am not saying this is good or bad. Personally, i think it is bad as it erodes into the value system of middle class. Only time will tell what its long term implications are.
Sridhar

rsdihar,

I am afraid you have misunderstood Ali Lapointe`s article. No where is he arguing what you think he is arguing.

He is upset that the fashion gurus didn`t protest the ban... the ban has since then been lifted. The character of the Pakistani fashion industry is similar to the Indian fashion industry... it is a world of glamor and has the patronization of westernized upper middle class. Mind you.. this is middle class, and not the upper class as some would have us believe.

In 1980s the oppression of Zia regime led to creativity ... and fashion became an expression of protest ... which suddenly launched the Pakistani fashion industry... sadly the same intellectual basis is no longer there.


I suggest you read the article again.


:)

-YLH

mohar11:
You do not have to convince me regarding the problems created in India by those who show different attitude towards hindu and muslim sensitivities. BJP would still be stuck with single digits in the parliament if it were not able to exploit the hypociricy of Angana Chatterjees, Praful Badwais and Arundati Roys and their ilk.
...but to be fair, none of the muslim leaders in India supported Hussain during his trouble with the Shiv Sena; as far as I remember many of them were openly critical of him.