Pakistan’s most celebrated and anticipated awards of the year, Lux Style Awards have been enveloped in many controversies since the list of nominees were announced. First the LSA jury received backlash for snubbing some of the most prominent projects of 2018 and later some of the nominees requested to be excluded from the list as they don’t want to share an LSA nomination with an alleged sexual offender.
The controversy surrounding the awards is nowhere coming to a close as two prominent names from the fashion industry, clothing brand Generation and make-up artist Saima Bargfrede, have boycotted the award show on Monday.
Generation announced their decision to boycott the award show on their social media and also issued a press statement which said: “Generation will not attend this year’s Lux Style Awards where the brand has been nominated for Achievement in Fashion Design (pret), due to the inclusion of a nominee that has been repeatedly accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women.â€
GENERATION will not attend this year’s Lux Style Awards where the brand has been nominated for Achievement in Fashion Design (pret), due to the inclusion of a nominee that has been repeatedly accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women.https://t.co/kPsYBzcbpl…
— GENERATION (@GENERATION_PK) April 22, 2019
“The two brands (including Saima Bargfrede) stand with women who face and fight toxic misogyny, sexism and sexual harassment in multiple ways in pursuance of their dreams and indeed in their daily lives. The two entities have been nominated for awards in different categories and believe that by accepting any nomination or award and participating in LSA 2019 would be doing a disservice to the cause of women’s empowerment and the urgent need to address the menace of sexual harassment,†the statement said.
Read: 4 controversies sparked by Lux Style Awards 2019 nominations
Khadija Rehman from Generation & Saima Bargfrede
“This decision has been made after serious deliberation and as both bodies do not hold anything against those who choose to attend the LSA this year, or bear any personal ill will towards anyone associated with the awards,†it added.
Following suit, Meesha Shafi has also asked the LSA organizers to remove her nomination from the Best Song category. The singer took to Twitter and thanked Eman Suleman who supported her along with other brands that followed in Eman’s footsteps, emphasizing that “our boycotts should not overshadow our achievements”.
To all concerned. #LSA2019 ?? pic.twitter.com/nfoHUlTf4W
— MEESHA SHAFI (@itsmeeshashafi) April 23, 2019
“Mein is a song about finding our true self. Being aligned with a higher purpose. Being our own hero and being enough. I wrote it at a particularly difficult time in my life. When I needed to be all those things,†she said about the song she was nominated for.
It all started last month when model Eman Suleman posted a video on Instagram where she announced her boycott.
Nominated under the Best Emerging Talent in Fashion category, Eman did not take any names. In a minute long video message, the model expressed her discomfort and said: “I was extremely honoured to be nominated for the Lux Style Awards but, what I’m going to say next is going to result in a lot of eye rolls. I am tired of talking about it, honestly. I do not wish to be a part of an accolade which is shared with an alleged harasser, I feel no joy. Maybe nominate someone who feels happy about it, I don’t. I am basically done [with this].â€
