Hassan Sheheryar Yasin, better known as the venerated HSY is one of our most treasured Pakistani designers. He sat down with Samina Peerzada for an intimate interview, where he revealed details about his childhood, his family and his rise to fame. In a shocking revelation, HSY explained how an accident changed his life indefinitely, and shaped him into the designer he is now.
HSY talked about how his mother’s salary when they arrived in Pakistan was Rs. 4,000 and how he worked multiple jobs to help
He grew up in New York before moving back home in the 90s, because of reasons he didn’t wish to disclose. He was hesitant on coming back home but then realized that everything happens for a reason. He said that “coming back to Pakistan” was the pinnacle in becoming HSY.
The designer talked about the harrowing car accident that left him blind for over a year when he was 16
“I went through the windshield of a car,” HSY revealed to Samina. He had “sixteen surgeries” to get his eyesight back, and that’s what ultimately made him decide to become a designer. “I wasn’t going to be a designer;” his entire family was full of educationalists – careers that gave back to the country. HSY wanted to do something for his people too but in a more different manner.
When his eyesight came back after the multiple surgeries, he could only see the color red for some time
“For me, red is the color of life.” Most of his collection is also red because of it. He remembered how he had to walk around with a stick and how his mother and sister took care of him during the harrowing time. He said after the accident his life felt like it was over; “for one year I was dark, and not just dark in my eyes, but dark in my heart and dark around me.” He could hear people crying, and he could “feel a sadness in the air.”
It was after this trauma where he told his mother that he wanted to live his life the way he wanted to – and it wasn’t about designing clothes, but about “khubsoorti”
“I want to see beautiful things, I want to make things that make other people feel beautiful.” He said how he wanted to be around color and create things with “patterns” that he couldn’t see in his mind before. His emphasis on detail came about after his accident where he had lost all feeling of observation. His mother was the only one who kept him going – he would often hear her crying when he was blind; “I lived for her, I lived for my sister.” He didn’t want her to suffer, and he said how now he wants nothing more than to give his mother the world she deserves.
Here’s the full episode
What did you think about this week’s episode with HSY?