Last night Lahore hosted its first ever ‘street art fest’ at the Expo Center. The main focus of this showcase was to give new and upcoming artists in Pakistan a platform to show their work; there was a mix of classic and modern (and more street) art.
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During the exhibition, there was a fashion and music showcase that featured Pakistani designers Wardha Saleem and Fahad Hussayn.
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Wardha presented a collection that focused on women empowerment and celebrated Pakistan’s most powerful and empowered women. Fahad’s collection was more abstract in nature and had to do with your own identity and the conflict of the mind.
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He dressed all his models in white and used them as canvases to paint on.
For his showstopper, he painted on his showstopper, Noor Bhatti, live on stage. As a concept, it’s great and very ‘ooh la la’ but the way it actually looked was quite uneasy. Just by the way, Noor Bhatti is said to be Fahad Hussayn’s muse.
First, they both walked on stage.
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Then the ‘painting’ started.
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Fahad Hussayn is the type of designer who is very dedicated to his work and his craft, and he took his theme very seriously. Again, a live art show is something that has never been done in Pakistan, so it was cool to see him walk on stage with his paints in hand, but as videos of the actual ‘painting’ surfaced online, people were left really uneasy.
First off, people blamed him of copying this idea of late British designer, Alexander McQueen.
The ‘amazing’ factor could not be found.
Some just didn’t understand what Fahad Hussayn was trying to achieve.
People began commenting on how the model looked visibly uncomfortable.
People were left disturbed, more than anything else.
All of this aside, the designer and muse, had an exchange over a photo of theirs from the event.
What this boils down to, is the fact that being slathered with paint is a weird situation to be in, and you can only hide your discomfort as much. As someone who saw this firsthand, it did look like she was uncomfortable, but it all seemed normal in the end. Of course, me or anyone else, cannot comment to the nature of their agreement regarding this show, but we can only wish for the best.
Fashion in Pakistan rarely takes risks like this, so here’s hoping that our industry begins to take more bold risks this year. Art is about expression, and expression can be taken a hundred different ways.
