Colorism is discrimination against individuals with dark skin tones. Black American are not the only people obsessed with how light or dark a person’s skin look. Colorism is societal ill felt in many areas, especially in Pakistan. On the other hand, classism is prejudice against people belonging to a particular social class. It is a differential treatment based on social class or perceived social class. It is systematic oppression. Zara Shahjahan started her career in 2004 after graduating from (NCA) the national council of arts in Lahore. She is also a lead designer for a lifestyle brand, So Kamal Pret.
After people calling her models “looking like maids,” Zara Shahjahan chose not to stay quiet. “These pictures started getting a lot of hate,” the designer wrote. ‘They look like maids’ is one comment which disturbed me most.”
Taking to Instagram, the designer shared pictures of two Mexican models she brought on board for her collection. “Let’s talk about these pictures. So I had a shoot in Turkey. My team left a day earlier and the day I and the model had to leave, Turkey announced 15 days of quarantine. We were left with no choice but to hire models from there,”
She further added “I tried to find girls who look south Asian and finally found these two very stunning Mexican models who flew from LA for the campaign. We were very happy, the campaign look really beautiful and we launched, but what happened after is quite disturbing.”.
“These pictures started getting a lot of hate. “They look like maids” is one comment which disturbed me the most. Are we these people? Why do we want the models to be white and sultry?”
“Thank god for my loyal customers who know my brand and the collection was sold out but I don’t seem to get the irritation of a lot of women to these two pictures.”
Zara Shahjahan didn’t stay back and was not quiet. She spoke up for what she considered is right. Kudos to her for her work and more power to her.
