22-year-old fashion designer Ajmal Haqiqi recently organized a very special fashion show in Kabul featuring Afghan models displaying traditional clothing to a local Afghan audience. Over two-dozen models, including six women, walked down the catwalk in the garden of a private Kabul villa to an audience of 100 men and women. According to the AP, “the mood was as bright as the models’ embroidered tunics and scarves — a scene that would have been unimaginable under Taliban rule.”
AP reports that “Kabul has seen few fashion shows over the past years, mostly catering to international audiences… The idea of women on display remains mostly taboo in Afghanistan, more than 16 years after the 2001 U.S. assault that ousted the Taliban from power after a repressive five-year reign.”
Haqiqi says he was motivated by the desire to show off Afghan culture with the thought that if Afghans regained an awareness of their rich heritage, it could help unite them. Husna Sadat, who was in the audience, concurred with this accessment. “If we can change the mentality of our people from all these years of fighting, then I am sure the people can be ready for a better future.”
