The Pakistani Fashion Industry is pretty glamorous if you come to think about it. The glitz and the glamor of new collections, new photoshoots and of course, the ramp walk.

 

In the gorgeousness and glamor of the Pakistani fashion industry we often forget that the ‘behind the scenes’ may not be as beautiful

Recently Pakistani model Anam Malik took to Facebook to express their sheer frustration with the culture of late payments in the industry

According to her, there are designers who have really extravagant photo shoots, but these very designers refuse to pay models for up to months.

https://www.facebook.com/anammalik84/posts/1956967601023782

Her fellow model, Saheefa Jabbar Khattak also shared her status, adding her own note.

‘I don’t show tantrums then please don’t rub your designer attitude / multinational company / big brand owner on my face. Don’t abuse my patience, DO NOT ABUSE my hard work and passion for my job’

https://www.facebook.com/saheefa.khn/posts/10218467225259839

People in the industry responded to both these statuses really well and supported their cause. 

Designer, Rehan Bashir, responded to the calls by the models 

Renowned makeup artist Omayr Waqar also added his voice to the mix 

Actor Ahsan Khan lended his advice to the conversation

Apparently, there is no norm of signing contracts in the modeling world, which is why designers are able to get away with paying their models late.

Farwa Kazmi, the model Anam named as a fellow in the late payment issue, reiterated what Anam said

There was also a commentary on how this is a practice all over Pakistan.

Even Nadia Hussain put her two cents in 

People just couldn’t see the logic that designers used for late payment 

It appears that the issue is not one of there being a lack of money or resources. The issue is to do with respect for the artists and talent involved in a project. It’s really sad to see an industry as large and celebrated as the fashion industry doing things that are just NOT cool in this day and age.

Dawn.com revealed that the designer that Anam and Farwa referred to is Tena Durrani. It was also revealed that the models were able to get in touch with the CEO of the company and their payments were being made in installments.

The team at Tena Durrani blame the issue on ‘miscommunication’… interesting.

Regardless of who is to blame with this particular issue, the fact that models in Pakistan don’t have contracts or a framework to protect them against abuse or fraud is extremely shocking. For an “industry” that wants so badly to be taken seriously by the West and is always trying to make a mark in fashion weeks abroad, it is extremely important to have a proper structure and work ethic within the industry.