(Pakistan) Karachi: Pakistan fashion week defies Taliban with non-Islamic dress
Daily Telegraph reports:
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.”
Taliban militants have killed more than 300 in the past month in a bloody campaign of bombings and assassinations. Attacks on markets, universities, the army general headquarters in Rawalpindi and police stations in Lahore show the Taliban can reach seemingly ever corner of the country.
But the fashion world was determined to stage its shows.
“Life has to go on,” said Samar Mehdi, 35, another young designer who studied fashion at Bristol University. “And this is a way to tell the people want our lives to stop that ‘No, we won’t let you.'”
The shows were held at the Marriott Hotel in Pakistan’s financial capital under strict security. The event – originally scheduled for October – planned to introduce designers and models from abroad, but the fragile security situation has left organisers counting on local talent.
A model presents a creation by Pakistani designer Aiesha Varsey during the Pakistan Fashion Week in Karachi on November 4, 2009. Pakistan's fashion week began on November 4 with an opulent opening ceremony, against a backdrop of militant violence and secu Photo: AFP
