TRENDS: FADES, UNDERCUTS AND TOP-KNOTS
Svurveys show a rising aspiration among men to look better groomed which means that the fashion, style, skin and haircare market is not just limited to women. It may be an increased visibility of metrosexual men in pop culture, a variety of social and cultural factors are driving Pakistani men to break stereotypes and go for beauty and styling — giving, in the process, a boost to the grooming market, say experts. Better groomed people, regardless of their gender, make better first impressions, are generally more confident — and on a side note, lack pungent body odour. It’s almost unfair that for the longest time, cultural expectations have allowed men to be elusive consumers of beauty products and grooming techniques while women have happily ruled the roost.
This particularly rings true for Pakistan where notions of masculinity have long attributed the world of salons and beauty treatments to women while men are expected to fend for themselves with only an occasional trip to the neighbourhood barber’s shop. But times are changing, as one noticed at the recent ‘We are Two’ show hosted by Toni&Guy in Karachi. It was a hair show that aimed to bring international trends to Pakistan and while most of the looks were styled on women, a segment dedicated to men featured four styles that could work as well on the catwalk as they could in daily life. Even the host for the evening, Adnan Malik, had his hair styled by the salon.
“We wanted to showcase designs that were wearable,” explains Saeeda Mandviwalla, the CEO of Toni&Guy South Pakistan. “Men generally want fuss-free touchable hair so we used limited products and chose hairstyles that were trendy but easy to manage. One of the models was given a very European close-shaved look. Another one’s hair was worked into soft layers with a fringe. Men’s fringes work very well for those who have receding hairlines. The layers can be combed over thinning temples to cover them easily. A model with long hair was simply given a slight cut and a wet hair look with minimal gel.”
Men are becoming more conscious about the way they look
“The focus was on easy-to-do quick styling because I have noticed that this is what men want when they come to the salon,” says Saeeda. “The male market for grooming has really grown over the past few years. Earlier, 80 percent of our clients were female while 20 percent were male. Now, the breakdown has changed to 60 percent women and 40 percent men. In fact, over the weekend, we have a huge male clientele. During the wedding season, our ‘groom packages’ gain popularity, with grooms-to-be coming in for hair styling, facials, manicures, pedicures and even slight touch-ups of base and concealer to their faces. It’s not just women who want to look good in their wedding photographs!”