{"id":79999,"date":"2024-05-14T20:24:07","date_gmt":"2024-05-14T20:24:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/loud-is-proud-silence-is-violence-ali-xeeshan-on-fashion-the-express-tribune\/"},"modified":"2024-05-14T20:24:07","modified_gmt":"2024-05-14T20:24:07","slug":"loud-is-proud-silence-is-violence-ali-xeeshan-on-fashion-the-express-tribune","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/loud-is-proud-silence-is-violence-ali-xeeshan-on-fashion-the-express-tribune\/","title":{"rendered":"Loud is proud, silence is violence: Ali Xeeshan on fashion | The Express Tribune"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

\u00a0<\/p>\n

If \u2018eccentric\u2019 had a picture in the dictionary, there is no way that proud Punjabi designer Ali Xeeshan would not be featured alongside. This is the man who openly admits to dressing in a fur coat and a necklace to use the loo in the middle of the night. Xeeshan, with his bold unorthodox fashion choices, was born to stand out \u2013 a trait that was immediately pounced upon when the designer was carving out his territory in the fashion industry.<\/p>\n

The larger-than-life designer, clad in a silken robe, hip sunglasses and hair sleeked down on his head \u2013 looking like \u201ca Saudi prince\u201d \u2013 appeared as a guest on Ahmad Ali Butt’s\u00a0podcast<\/a>, and in his sing-song cadence, related the extraordinary Mean-Girls-esque bullying he had endured as a young fashion icon in Karachi.<\/p>\n

\u201cI was born like this,\u201d stated Xeeshan, indicating his flamboyant outfit. \u201cThis is my lifestyle. I am authentic. I wear whatever I want. As I always say, loud is proud, and silence is violence.\u201d Born and raised in a large joint family, Xeeshan explained that his fashion sense comes straight from his mother, \u201cwho is me, magnified by a hundred.\u201d<\/p>\n

Proud to be \u201cas Lahori as it gets\u201d, Xeeshan said, \u201cI went to a government college, and it really shaped me. I was good at academics. I got A grades and distinctions, and I graduated from fashion school.\u201d<\/p>\n

Brushing aside the long-held concept that only a certain class of person can begin a career in such a seemingly closed-off field, Xeeshan noted, \u201cFashion doesn\u2019t belong to the elite, you know. It took me a while to break through, but I won them over with my creativity. My design sense has its own voice, from Multan to Milan, from Lahore to London.\u201d<\/p>\n

Vociferously denying being \u201cupper class\u201d, the ambitious and self-described workaholic said, \u201cI may be successful now, but I have done everything under the sun to get to where I am. We had financial hardships when I was growing up, but we come from an entrepreneurial background. I have sold sandwiches to get by and even sold bangles on chaand raat<\/em>.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the fashion world in Pakistan, there is a solid line between Lahore and Karachi, and dredging up painful memories of the inevitable Lahore vs Karachi fashion debate, Xeeshan remarked, \u201cIt became really ugly, and I was a victim of that. I became a big star overnight in Lahore. People in Karachi didn\u2019t like that.\u201d<\/p>\n

Showing just how much people in Karachi disapproved, Xeeshan recalled the being centre of a brutal review. \u201cIt was the after-party at the Karachi Fashion Week. There was a rectangular table, and everyone from the fashion industry was there,\u201d said Xeeshan. \u201cI didn\u2019t know anyone. And then someone showed me the review he had written about me where he called me trash from Lahore.\u201d<\/p>\n

So distraught was Xeeshan at the time that he fled to his car and sobbed. \u201cI cried like I had lost my baby,\u201d he said. \u201cSomething broke in me. I was very hurt.\u201d The humiliating recollection proved so traumatic that Xeeshan burst into tears at the mere memory. \u201cI was alone in the city,\u201d he said. \u201cNo one should have to go through something like that. It was so wrong.\u201d Turning his face to the camera, Xeeshan steeled himself with a deep breath. Banging on the table to make a point, he thundered, \u201cFashion is democratic. It belongs to everyone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Today, Xeeshan is at peace knowing he has contributed financially to his country and the people around him through his work in fashion. \u201cI know my worth now, and I empower the people around me,\u201d he said. Naming his agent, his tailor, his cleaner, and all the people who have allowed his business today to thrive, Xeeshan can sleep at peace knowing his heart is \u201cclean\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cI am not here to give you a sob story,\u201d he explained. \u201cI don\u2019t steal or lie. my earnings are halal. I pay taxes. I try to give back to society and thank God my work is good. My heart is clean.\u201d Thinking back to those who had wronged him in the past, Xeeshan added, \u201cIf your craft is rubbish and you are rude, then there is something wrong with you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Whatever traumas he may have had to battle on his route to the top, Xeeshan can now freely be himself without being weighed down by the prospect of negative reviews.<\/p>\n

Have something to add to the story? Share it in the comments below.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

\u00a0 If \u2018eccentric\u2019 had a picture in the dictionary, there is no way that proud Punjabi designer Ali Xeeshan would not be featured alongside. This is the man who openly admits to dressing in a fur coat and a necklace to use the loo in the middle of the night. Xeeshan, with his bold unorthodox […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":80000,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_active":false,"_monsterinsights_sitenote_note":"","_monsterinsights_sitenote_category":0,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/i.tribune.com.pk\/media\/images\/alixeeshan1715684219-0\/alixeeshan1715684219-0.png","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-79999","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-lifestyle"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79999","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=79999"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/79999\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/80000"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=79999"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=79999"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pakistaninewspaperlist.com\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=79999"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}