Models highlight war stories on Kabul runway
After nearly a week of planning, 12 Afghan models walked the runway on Saturday as part of the country’s first fashion show to highlight the impact of the decades-long conflict. Dressed in blood-stained shrouds to resemble war victims, two women and 10 men took part in the first round of “The Shroud Fashion Show.”
Event organizer Ajmal Haqiqi said there were plans to host similar events in the future. “Through this event, we wanted to show the bitter and harsh reality of the ongoing situation in our country, to show the impact of suicide bombers, blasts and attacks,” Haqiqi told Arab News on Sunday.
“We will hold more of such programs among the public, on the streets, and in this way draw the attention of our leaders and the world that Afghans more than any other nation badly need and deserve peace.”
Haqiqi Fashion, which he set up 13 years ago, is the country’s first modeling agency.
He said the main idea behind the event was to draw attention to the “war’s calamities.”
“People want and need peace. It was a campaign to emphasize peace, not on modeling or peace for modeling,” Haqiqi added.
Some Afghans went on social media to show their support for the event.
“Afghans are tired of the war and use any medium to show that,” school student Sayed Sameer posted on Facebook. “The fashion show was one way.”
There have been more than 40 years of fighting in Afghanistan, claiming the lives of an unknown number of people.
More than 100 civilians and members of the security forces died last week, according to estimates released by Tolo News on Saturday, and the US said in a February report that civilian casualties had seen a sharp uptick since peace negotiations between the Taliban and Afghan government representatives began in Doha last September.