*2ND ANNIVERSARY SPECIAL- HITTING NEWS-STANDS ON 1ST NOV. 2009*
*PHOTOS UPDATED ON FACEBOOK GROUP OF ‘XPOZÉ MONTHLY’
…FROM MY DESK
The amount of noise and drawing room chatter that Xpozé has stirred in the last couple of years; it’s hard for a lot of our readers to believe that this month we are celebrating only our second anniversary! Yes, we are merely two years old and yet when we called around while working on this issue’s content, the initial response was invariably, “What, you are just two years old?...You guys are monsters for that age!!!”. We definitely took that as a wonderful compliment!
Nevertheless, I must say, what a journey it’s been!
As I reminisce on another eventful and fun-filled year, some of last year’s highs and accomplishments for me have been:
SEEING DOUBLE: In June 2009 we did an exposé on Pakistani jewelry designer Sara Taseer Shoaib’s blatantly plagiarizing Indian jeweler Alpana Gujral’s logo. Of course the story was made more interesting by each designer’s political pedigrees and parallels. The story was picked up by ‘Instep’ The News who accredited Xpozé for breaking the story. Both news items created a public furor with accusations and lawsuit threats flying across the border. We licked our whiskers at our investigative skills and challenged other designers to ever try copying again!
ONLINE SCAMS: After one of our Canadian subscribers bemoaned her horrific experience with a fairly high profile Lahore-based designer, we ran an investigative piece in April 2009 about how ex-pat web-buyers who bought designer wear online had been duped by a posse of other deceitful Pakistani designers. Myriad designers were open about their trade and practices and we hope that some of them learnt to be more honest and sympathetic to their foreign clients.
ONGOING BANNING: Xpozé prides itself on its objective and unbiased reportage of fashion shows, collections, trends and even personalities’ lives. This unstinting stance has not always been appreciated hence Xpozé being ‘banned’ from myriad fashion shows. Ironically for us, this was the ultimate fashion compliment as the bans only corroborated what we already knew: We told the truth and the truth sometimes stings. My mention about the banning of fashion journalists in my July 2009 editorial created an ongoing dialogue and awareness about the prickly topic.
GAL PALS: Grande dame Begum Nawazish invited me to her show in August 2009. It was a momentous occasion as this was the first time a magazine editor, rather than a politician or celebrity was invited as a guest. It was a good opportunity as we two gal pals dissected our respective industries with innuendo, candidness and laughs all the way! For this special Anniversary issue, remembering our chat, Begum Nawazish (aka Ali Saleem) sent this message to our office:
“It was great having Andleeb on my show because foremost I view her as a friend. Also jaani she has a glamorous past as a model and I admire her for her strong convictions as the Editor of one of the most entertaining magazines around. I liked her candidness. I believe a woman should always be allowed to speak her mind freely!” Thank you Begum sahiba!
GRAND AFFAIR: We were privileged to shoot our September 2009 cover and fashion pages on the palatial grounds of Acton House on the British Deputy High Commissioner’s Runnymede Estate. This was the first time any magazine was allowed to shoot on the estate in over 100 years of its existence. The results were stunning. Thank you, Robert Gibson.
TRENDSETTERS: We at Xpozé like nothing better than to pore over fashion show photographs and dissect both local and international designer collections to forecast trends. Aside from offering incisive and hard-hitting show verdicts, we were the first magazine to thoroughly highlight ongoing style leanings with added tips on how to wear them well. It’s funny, but we seem to have created another ‘trend’ with many other publications following suit and creating their ‘own’ trend pages, trend-spotters and trendsetters that we truly are!
We would also personally like to thank every one of our advertisers, designers, models, celebrities and you, our readers for believing and patting us on the back for every job well done. Your support means a lot to us.
-ANDLEEB RANA FARHAN
Write to me at: editor@epochcreatives.com
COVER CREDIT LINES:
COVER DIVA: PAKISTANI ACTRESS, MONA LIZA WHO IS ALL SET TO MAKE HER BOLLYWOOD DEBUT ALONGSIDE HIMESH RESHAMMIYA IN POOJA BHATT’S MOVIE ‘KAJRAARE’.
STYLING & REALIZATION: XPOZÉ STYLE TEAM
HAIR & MAKE-UP: ALTAF AT NABILAS
DESIGNERS MONA LIZA WEARS IN THE SHOOT: SADAF MALATERRE, SANA SAFINAZ, MAHEEN KARIM, NADIA SHAH, SIMAR DUGAL, NIDA AZWER & ENSEMBLE IN-HOUSE
PHOTOGRAPHER: RIZWAN-UL-HAQ
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