Fashion house Tena Durrani responds to Anam Malik’s claim of unpaid dues

Model Anam Malik recently shared her disappointment over unpaid dues by designers for modelling assignments.  She posted her thoughts on Facebook on Monday in which she alleged that she, along with fellow model Farwa Kazmi, had done a shoot last month and now the designer is not answering her calls. It was later revealed that she was in fact talking about Tena Durrani.

Talking to Something Haute, Anam said that local models are treated differently as compared to Bollywood superstars like Kangana Ranaut and Kareena Kapoor Khan who are often seen modelling for local designers. “They don’t respect us and even their sub-ordinates do not respond to our queries properly. Models do not voice their concerns because they fear they will not get work in the future,” she said adding, “I did a shoot for Tena Durrani on October 10 and I was expected to be paid within two weeks. I have been trying to contact the designer and her team for over a month and no one took me seriously.”

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

The model further commented that this is an ugly side of the fashion business which no one talks about. “Some photographers have also faced the same problem when they don’t get paid for their services on time. Models are the face of a brand’s campaign; we do outdoor shoots in extreme climatic conditions and never complain because it is our job. When we are investing so much time and energy in our work, designers should also treat us accordingly,” she said.

We spoke to Taimur Shah — CEO of Tena Durrani — who has denied all such claims who said he has been in the industry for 10 years and no one has ever made such an accusation against their brand.

Taimur Shah with designer Tena Durrani

“The fact is that we follow a normal payment cycle but our team never received any invoice from the said models. This is a simple case of miscommunication as these models were contacting the creative team for the clearance of their payments. It was a non issue because we cleared the air the moment she spoke to me, but later she went on and posted about it,” he said.

“I came across comments where the models are proposing legal contracts as a solution. Well… they must have not put thought into it because if I start putting contracts into place, those who have unprofessional behavior will end up in hot water. Trust me there won’t be any model that would live up to that contract during their entire career,” Taimur added.

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According to Taimur the matter is not as simple as it is projected. “A photographer bailed on me on the day of my shoot for my lawn launch; that cost me at least 7 million rupees in delayed product launch. I didn’t sue that guy. As company and designers we generally don’t have people championing our cause. If her claims had any merit, I wouldn’t be facing a social media trial but rather a legal proceeding.”

He says what surprises him are comments about how models are sometimes not offered food and water. “On my shoots, models order food from high-end restaurants like Espresso and Xander’s. We even send riders to get specific orders for them. I have had bills of Rs 20.000 on the shoot and have never complained,” he said adding, “I have heard about designers who don’t pay but nobody takes their name. They are reporting stories on someone who is fulfilling all obligations and even then is being threatened to face a backlash.”