All over the world, the glitz and glam of high fashion is aligned with charities and charitable causes, which serve as an antidote to the large doses of sparkle and shine associated with high-end designer-wear. This helps to keep things grounded and in their proper perspective.

Here too in Pakistan, there have been feeble voices and subtle efforts over the past few years to link fashion with charity. But when fashion-related outings took a severe blow after the closure of fashion weeks managed by fashion councils, charity became collateral damage, a grim byproduct of the implosion. There’s renewed hope, however, a light at the end of the dark tunnel.

Like flowers that wither and fade away at the onslaught of autumn and winter, only to bloom once again at the first hint of spring and reach their full glory in summer, there are individuals among us whose lives follow the same pattern as these seasonal blossoms. They were born perfectly healthy and able-bodied but, as a result of someone’s hostile actions towards them, or due to circumstances beyond their control, their physical attributes were mutilated beyond recognition, permanently.

But they still choose to fight life’s daily battles. These are the brave souls that tell the inspiring stories of the acid burn survivors at Depilex SmileAgain Foundation (DSF), spearheaded by Masarrat Misbah.

At the recently held Runway Spring/Summer ’25 show, fashion designers and professional models walked hand-in-hand with acid burn survivors to raise awareness about their plight and to highlight the social stigma attached to these brave souls. But have sponsors turned their back on fashion paired with expressions of compassion?

At a recent fashion event, titled Runway Spring/Summer ’25 at Marine Venues, designer Zubair Shah joined hands with DSF to showcase his all-white collection, ‘Summer Bloom’, which underlined aspects of purity, revival, regeneration and rehabilitation, inspired by the lives of DSF survivors.

In the runway segment curated for the vision-impaired acid burn survivors attired head-to-toe in white designer-wear and choreographed by former model Neera, professional fashion models escorted them down the runway while they smiled and waved to the audience, who gave these brave souls and post-trauma survivors, along with Masarrat Misbah, a befitting standing ovation. An inspiring cause-based fashion moment indeed, and one that brought tears to many eyes.

There were others too, young women whose lives were disrupted by the aggression of a rejected suitor, or children as young as 10 or 12 who suffered severe burns as a result of domestic accidents, such as a gas cylinder explosion or an undetected gas leak in the kitchen. On the fashion runway, they all came together to live their lifelong dream of walking down the catwalk as a fashion model, either escorted or solo — the agony, anguish and anxiety of countless corrective surgeries, with still many more to follow, momentarily forgotten in the euphoria of the moment.

This was just one of the many highlighting moments that wove a tale of sentimental journeys. Classical dancer and rights activist Sheema Kermani performed to an exclusive recording of celebrated poet Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s Dasht-i-Tanhai, with vocals by Ustad Vilayat Hussain and Ustad Shafiullah on the harmonium, while paying a heartfelt tribute to all those lost over the span of a year from among the artist community.

Sheema’s precise and fluid hand and body movements, and footwork, remained in perfect synchronisation with Faiz Ahmed Faiz’s immortal verses. Her facial expressions and eye movements told a tale of yearning and loss, and finally coming to terms with life’s journey. It will go down as a much-cherished and memorable performance by the doyenne of classical dance.

A very entertaining and contemporary dance troupe, comprising Naina Black, Yoshua Hussain and Shehzore Akhtar, and one that took things to an entirely different level, was the performance to the ever-popular Khamaj sung by Shafqat Amanat Ali.

Dressed head-to-toe in black, the trio of dancers moved in between the seating aisles freely and with abandon, while describing and enacting the pain and anguish of separation with their supple moves, pirouettes and gyrations. Next, singer Syed Hassaan performed popular toe-tapping covers live on the guitar, which was a hard act to follow.

But where the performing artists left off, the fashion brigade took over, with tall and statuesque models walking for Mahi’s Couture and casual line. The sleek silhouettes, refined embroideries on jewe­l-tone rich fabrics wove an intricate tapestry that spoke volumes of the detailed crafts­manship, heirloom value, tradit­ional embroidered patterns and motifs that verged on storytelling, and fine tailoring rounded off with perfect finishing.

The 45-piece strong trousseau collection, with actress Zahra Raza as the showstopper, was the perfect dose of high fashion that fashion editors, critics and fashionistas had been yearning for, and the showcase they had been waiting to witness on the fashion runway.

The talented fashion final thesis students of the Millennium Institute of Technology and Entrepreneurship (MI­TE) certainly did not lag behind in their expression of showmanship. With trans­gender activist Kami Chaudhry as the showstopper, they showed costumes deeply inspired by the din, chaos and confusion of urban lifestyles, the bounty of nature denoted by costumes crafted from dried fruit skin peels and elements of pomegranate, as well as mental health-related issues, societal trends and architectural patterns.

As the models sashayed in MITE costumes, the promise of hope in the young fleet of aspiring designers grew strong, which goes to show that, with proper mentorship and guidance, young minds can be moulded and their thoughts and energies channelled to create something truly extraordinary and out-of-the-box.

Bridal couture debutant Ramsha Bilal of Rose Salon — also the official hair and make-up artist for Runway S/S’25 — narrated a fairy tale based on fantasy, magic and happy endings, with her line of heavy formals and bridal-wear.

Sculpted out of the finest of fabrics, such as tissue, silks, crepes and chiffons, the bridal couture pieces were embellished with tone-on-tone embroideries in fine silk thread and zari work. The beautiful Alizeh, daughter of popular actress and host Nadia Khan, made her ramp debut as a model as the showstopper in Ramsha Bilal’s showcase.

Lubna Mudassir showed trademark luxury pret and formal pieces with model and celebrity social media influencer Aliya Sattar as her showstopper.

K. Yousuf stole the spotlight with her Pakhtun-inspired bridal pieces, with heavy zari embroidery and lace stylised by chunky jewellery from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa region. The highpoint of her collection was the playful use of bright colours, which she incorporated into the collection, making the entire line bright, cheerful and very festive.

Saqlain Haider, the organiser at Infini Events noted and lamented the fact that a general sense of disinterest and lack of empathy has permeated the (corporate) sponsorship sector on a whole, even for fashion events supporting charitable causes, with hardly anybody interested in sponsoring events worthy of support.

“Hum TV, Smokey-Os, Eight Water, Vioray fragrances and Irfanistan [social media] partnered with Runway SS’25 to extend support for this genuine cause-based fashion event,” he said, “while other potential sponsors who were approached either expressed utter disinterest or a startling lack of empathy for human suffering.”

This attitude denotes a huge and worrisome paradigm shift in our society. The disinterest in expression of compassion, indicates a sort of moral disintegration in the very fabric of society on a whole. Mere financial gains can’t be the only motivational factor driving resource mobilisation and social activism.

Published in Dawn, ICON, August 24th, 2025