TFPW: Incest, broken air-conditioners and HSY’s sunglasses

Not wanting to sound like the pessimistic grouch who always finds something wrong in everything, let me simply state that our Fashion weeks are a joke. Again, I’m not shitting on the credibility of some designers that really do make wonderful clothes (Zaheer Abbas’s collection at the Telenor Fashion Pakistan Week was actually quite elegant and understated as opposed to the over-embroidered crazies some designers produced) but the whole event itself is quite mad, and not in a good way.

One of the collections that truly deserves the limelight

I’m not going to be petty about how the red carpet was actually a Grey carpet (what’s the statement there? Green carpets support environment friendliness while pink carpets support breast cancer awareness. What does Grey represent? dreariness?) or how the air conditioners weren’t working or how there were too many people and not enough seats or how photographers were going crazy photographing everything in sight.These are Pakistani problems and we all as citizens are responsible, not the TFPW team. However, there are some very obvious glaring annoyances.

Look at this photographer losing her shit.
Must.Photograph.Every.Angle.

First of all, why do people wear sunglasses indoors at a nighttime event? Unless you’re on ecstasy or trying to hide your drunk eyes, what is the reason for wearing sunglasses? I understand, in fashion, not everything is about utility. We had people wearing hats indoors. But just imagine, in a setting where there was barely enough light for me to be able to photograph this phenomenon, there he was, posing for pictures, talking to people, being fab- all in those oversized sunglasses. And HSY did this every single day.

There is never an acceptable reason for a sober man to wear dark sunglasses to an indoor event. At night.

However, I can forgive HSY for this because there are other crimes he commits that must be looked at. My biggest issue with FPW is the fact that the council that organizes fashion weeks in Karachi, FPW, is made up of designers. They are all designers. The CEO, the spokesperson, the pr person- ALL of them are designers.

So basically, what happens here is that there are a bunch of designers who got together and made this council. Now they organize two fashion weeks every year in which they showcase their own clothing on the ramp. How does that make any sense? The ramp is supposed to be the place that tells commoners, like myself, what’s in and what’s out. The council should be made up of leading figures in the fashion industry- publicists, event managers, retailers- not designers themselves! If you think I’m being a hater, just take a look at the British Fashion Council. These guys are behind London Fashion Week, one of the most influential fashion weeks in the world. Take a look at the COO of their council. Hint: He’s not a designer.

Simon Ward: COO of British Fashion Council. (Not wearing sunglasses indoors)- britishfashioncouncil.com

On what basis do they choose the other designers who showcase their clothing on the ramp? What if these designers have rivalries with other designers who are not part of the council? Do they still get to showcase their clothing on the ramp? Nope, and that’s why we have several fashion councils because every Tom, Dick and Harry decides to set up a fashion council based on who they hate and don’t hate.

Why I really hate HSY wearing sunglasses indoors because it only goes to show the monopoly these designers have. They are in charge and they (forcefully) dictate who is hot. And according to them, they are hot. HSY is a star. Why? Because he said so. That’s why he can get away with wearing these damn shades indoors. These shades represent everything that is wrong with this fashion industry! (I’m only kidding)

Okay I may have gotten a bit carried away, but the fact of the matter is this: I cannot take these guys seriously if they all act like prima donnas and stroke each other’s egos and brainwash us into thinking their clothes are actually the best. This monopoly must be broken! Imran Khan, send some of your tabdeeli boys here!

If only we could get these many people to protest this unfairness!