Afghan fashion - Part II revisited

Posted by Lianne Gutcher at 16:12 on 5 Feb 2010

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This time there were no suicide bombers disrupting my day and so I tripped over the road to Afghan Film to see the delightful head, Engineer Latif, and - finally, finally - the footage of the 1960s fashion show.

Setting the scene, Eng Latif told me that when the footage was shot in the sixties, Kabul was a different place: there was an intelligentsia, there was culture.

'They all left now,' he said. 'There's nothing left.

'Back then, the women and girls wore the same clothes as the girls in Paris, New York and London. All the girls were very beautiful, perfect. The came from well-educated families.'

Eng Latif bunched up his fingers to his lips and kissed the tips in appreciation.

'You cannot guess this is Afghanistan.'

Afghan Film started in 1968 and, until 1992, covered all news events and happenings around Afghanistan, as well as producing films.

In 1992, the civil war erupted and in 1996 the Taliban arrived. Eng Latif spent the Taliban years in Russia but many other AF staff stayed. The Taliban had AF on its radar to be destroyed. The staff, which ranged from gardeners to film lab technicians, collected up the reels, hid them behind a false wall and boarded them up behind posters. It's thanks to them that there is any archive footage left today.

In 1969 and 1970 a series of fashion shows were held around the country showcasing the latest fashions and traditional outfits with a twist from the provinces. The designers were all local people.

Ahmad Shah Sediqi came to show me the clips. We sat in a very chilly room - the heating system broke about 15 years ago.

The clip was fascinating and had a sort of Austin Powers soundtrack. The girls were stunning. And the audience... men and women sat together; yhe women ... every single one of them wore an above-the-knee skirt. There was not a headscarf in sight. How did the country go from that to this?

There were clips of three fashion shows. Mr Sediqi had to consult the handwritten log in his dog-eared jotter to find the place of each one on the reel. I was rather taken by this old-school method and mentioned it.

Mr Sediqi misunderstood me. He thought I was commenting on his writing.

'Yes, I've got problems with my hand,' he said. "I was here when the Talibs came over the wall. One was beating a woman I had to stop him. That's how I hurt my hand."

He went on to explain he also had shrapnel all the way up his right leg after a bomb went off next to him.

I took photos of the screen - they're not great but you get the idea. I love the model with the gun. This is Afghanistan after all and some things just don't change.

(PS In response to an enquiry about Jake Simkin's photos you can check more of them out at: mildsevenlights portraits.) 

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