Lux Style Awards 2012: What the Bloggers Think
So the LSA's are around the corner. You can check out the nominees at their facebook page here and read my review here
So I am grateful to the couple of Pakistani Fashion bloggers who took their time out to answer a couple of my questions.
Umair
Owais
Usama at Style Supplement
aamiriat
Nida
Editor at A Wardrobe Affair
Here's the questions:-
1. Do you think it was fine to have snubbed Sana Safinaz from the Prêt Categories?
2. In an industry where fashion keeps growing day by day, is it fine to keep nominating the big(old) guns over and over?
3. Is the best emerging category just/rightful to have only 5 nominees when there's such a rapid growth and emergence of talent? And is merging all fashion categories in this one category for the emerging talents just?
4. If you have any other opinion you would want to share, or any concern that you have, I would be glad to know about that. It would help us all widen our perspective.
And here's what they had to say
Umair:-
1. It does surprises me that they are not nominated in any of the two pret categories and reduced to Lawn only. But one cannot deny that the designers nominated are as good and have shown fabulous collections in the past year.
2. It has to be on merit. Who does good should be nominated. Be it a newbie or a big old gun J. Like in the case of female models, the same faces being nominated every year, but what can the jury do when you have only Cybil, Rabia Butt, Amna Ilyas rocking the ramp and print and no new model leaving a bigger impact.
3. What I would want is a Lux Fashion Awards, where even more categories be added. It’s such a vast field, 9 categories are just not enough. And really, best emerging talent is a category beyond my understanding. If a designer or a photographer or a model has done exceptionally well, nominate them in their best awards category. Simple.
Owais:-
1. Sana Safinaz recently opened up their pret store therefore they will be nominated next year in terms of the buzz they make and their portfolio.
2. Well the new guns have yet to prove the mettle. While yes the new ones are coming up but few have actually managed to sustain that mark, very few have acted but say, see Sania Maskatiya. She is new and has been nominated because she proved it she has in it. Its all about making the right impact at the end of the day. Its also about how the jury compared all the collections and how they selected these 5. You cant say why is Meryl Streep nominated again and again for the Oscars but see she has also been beaten quite a many times but that doesn't deter her. Its just how you strive to do your best.
3. Yeah, for that i personally would have a seperate category for each, but i guess they were not spoilt for choices in year 2012. 2013 might be a different story.
Usama Hamayun from Style Supplement
1. Yes, Sana Safinaz spent entire 2012 working on their pret lines and stores....2013 will be the year of SS pret. So decision makes sense.
2. I don't think its about nominating the old guns or the young guns, it's about nominating the most deserving ones. So I dont think a person's past experience should matter while judging whether he deserves that nomination or not.
3. Talent is emerging and the growth is rapid but I think 5 nominees are quite enough, it's still a small industry. At the end of the day, only one of them is gonna win. As for the merging part, I agree with that as well.... I don't think our industry is big enough yet and allocating one category to all the fresh entrants is quite enough and the best way to go for now.
4. I think the fashion nominations were more than balanced overall, the only nominations that took me by surprise was that of Mahnoush in lawn category and Saima Azher in Emerging Talent category.
aamiriat
1. Well,I certainly hadn't noticed it before your email. As I wasn't on the jury that selected the nominations so I can't really answer as to if they were purposefully/intentionally snubbed, but as much as I know they just launched their pret retail store last month in Dolmen City Mall Khi so its kinda new. Moreover they have already won a lot of awards for their work in other fields I guess we should let the newbies/others to get nominated.
2. No,its not fine. But the newbies have to start properly marketing their brands as well. There are times when you notice a good design and you realise you don't know what brand it is and where it is available. Moreover some newbies have serious product/service quality issues, at times they don't even deserve to be nominated.The big guns not only continue to do big business but they invest in public relations which is crucial. As it is often said ,"Nobody is going to know that you sing well until you start singing to an audience.Young ones cant get nominated living under a rock.
3. I agree for the fact that they shouldn't have merged all into one, but if you look more closely they aren't enough people to be nominated every year in separate categories.You may have many emerging models and designers every year but what about retail brands or photographers? One just can't nominate every Tom,Dick and Harry.The 'prestigious' LSA nominations have to reflect the quality as well. :P
You are complaining about just 5 I personally think even that is stretch, since some of those have been working for a while, they are not really 'emerging' talent they are like a firework that didn't really blowup . Either they are too boring or just barely there otherwise they would have won an award in their respective categories.
4. I guess male models are seriously snubbed every time. Compared to female models, they work harder,are paid lesser and moreover they get less amount of work, so I would have appreciated if they could include some new ones like Tabish Oza in lineup.
Moreover, the jury needs to have a category for best blogger, writers ,fashion magazine and best editorial to commend the work produced by a lot of talented people out there.
Lastly there should be a category for a viewer's choice award, where people text/vote for their favourites.
Editor @ A Wardrobe Affair
1. Pret - Yes. Luxury Pret - Maybe. Sana Safinaz are yet to open their pret stores across the country & it would be too early to assume their success at it, let alone grant an award for it. As far as luxury pret is concerned, maybe they could have replaced Body Focus.... Maybe.
2. There is no set rule. Big gun or a newbie, the work should speak for itself. I didn't feel any bias towards the big guns this time ( Sana Safinaz, HSY, were in none of the pret categories) , however I do think we're being too generous with some of the newcomers ( Mahnoush by Arjumand Amin & Deepak Perwani in Lawn? Did I miss something?).
3. It makes perfect sense to have a fixed number of nominations under each category ; you will have to draw the line somewhere. That said, it makes little sense to compare the achievements of a make-up artist to that of a designer or a model. It's like comparing Cara Delevingne to Marc Jacobs.
4. It would be great to see the LSAs speak of Fashion Media too next time. Fashion Journalism & Blogging is essential to the Industry & must be encouraged at prestigious platforms like these.
Nida Moughal
1. Yes, I was amazed when I didn't see their name in Pret Category.
2. It doesn't matter whether its a new talent or big old guns, its all about performance. Moreover there is an emerging talent category.
3. Its perfectly fine to have 5 nominees but the merger is not. Emerging talent should be judged in their separate categories.
4. Why is it happening in Lahore. LOL :D
So I am grateful to the couple of Pakistani Fashion bloggers who took their time out to answer a couple of my questions.
Umair
Owais
Usama at Style Supplement
aamiriat
Nida
Editor at A Wardrobe Affair
Here's the questions:-
1. Do you think it was fine to have snubbed Sana Safinaz from the Prêt Categories?
2. In an industry where fashion keeps growing day by day, is it fine to keep nominating the big(old) guns over and over?
3. Is the best emerging category just/rightful to have only 5 nominees when there's such a rapid growth and emergence of talent? And is merging all fashion categories in this one category for the emerging talents just?
4. If you have any other opinion you would want to share, or any concern that you have, I would be glad to know about that. It would help us all widen our perspective.
And here's what they had to say
Umair:-
1. It does surprises me that they are not nominated in any of the two pret categories and reduced to Lawn only. But one cannot deny that the designers nominated are as good and have shown fabulous collections in the past year.
2. It has to be on merit. Who does good should be nominated. Be it a newbie or a big old gun J. Like in the case of female models, the same faces being nominated every year, but what can the jury do when you have only Cybil, Rabia Butt, Amna Ilyas rocking the ramp and print and no new model leaving a bigger impact.
3. What I would want is a Lux Fashion Awards, where even more categories be added. It’s such a vast field, 9 categories are just not enough. And really, best emerging talent is a category beyond my understanding. If a designer or a photographer or a model has done exceptionally well, nominate them in their best awards category. Simple.
Owais:-
1. Sana Safinaz recently opened up their pret store therefore they will be nominated next year in terms of the buzz they make and their portfolio.
2. Well the new guns have yet to prove the mettle. While yes the new ones are coming up but few have actually managed to sustain that mark, very few have acted but say, see Sania Maskatiya. She is new and has been nominated because she proved it she has in it. Its all about making the right impact at the end of the day. Its also about how the jury compared all the collections and how they selected these 5. You cant say why is Meryl Streep nominated again and again for the Oscars but see she has also been beaten quite a many times but that doesn't deter her. Its just how you strive to do your best.
3. Yeah, for that i personally would have a seperate category for each, but i guess they were not spoilt for choices in year 2012. 2013 might be a different story.
Usama Hamayun from Style Supplement
1. Yes, Sana Safinaz spent entire 2012 working on their pret lines and stores....2013 will be the year of SS pret. So decision makes sense.
2. I don't think its about nominating the old guns or the young guns, it's about nominating the most deserving ones. So I dont think a person's past experience should matter while judging whether he deserves that nomination or not.
3. Talent is emerging and the growth is rapid but I think 5 nominees are quite enough, it's still a small industry. At the end of the day, only one of them is gonna win. As for the merging part, I agree with that as well.... I don't think our industry is big enough yet and allocating one category to all the fresh entrants is quite enough and the best way to go for now.
4. I think the fashion nominations were more than balanced overall, the only nominations that took me by surprise was that of Mahnoush in lawn category and Saima Azher in Emerging Talent category.
aamiriat
1. Well,I certainly hadn't noticed it before your email. As I wasn't on the jury that selected the nominations so I can't really answer as to if they were purposefully/intentionally snubbed, but as much as I know they just launched their pret retail store last month in Dolmen City Mall Khi so its kinda new. Moreover they have already won a lot of awards for their work in other fields I guess we should let the newbies/others to get nominated.
2. No,its not fine. But the newbies have to start properly marketing their brands as well. There are times when you notice a good design and you realise you don't know what brand it is and where it is available. Moreover some newbies have serious product/service quality issues, at times they don't even deserve to be nominated.The big guns not only continue to do big business but they invest in public relations which is crucial. As it is often said ,"Nobody is going to know that you sing well until you start singing to an audience.Young ones cant get nominated living under a rock.
3. I agree for the fact that they shouldn't have merged all into one, but if you look more closely they aren't enough people to be nominated every year in separate categories.You may have many emerging models and designers every year but what about retail brands or photographers? One just can't nominate every Tom,Dick and Harry.The 'prestigious' LSA nominations have to reflect the quality as well. :P
You are complaining about just 5 I personally think even that is stretch, since some of those have been working for a while, they are not really 'emerging' talent they are like a firework that didn't really blowup . Either they are too boring or just barely there otherwise they would have won an award in their respective categories.
4. I guess male models are seriously snubbed every time. Compared to female models, they work harder,are paid lesser and moreover they get less amount of work, so I would have appreciated if they could include some new ones like Tabish Oza in lineup.
Moreover, the jury needs to have a category for best blogger, writers ,fashion magazine and best editorial to commend the work produced by a lot of talented people out there.
Lastly there should be a category for a viewer's choice award, where people text/vote for their favourites.
Editor @ A Wardrobe Affair
1. Pret - Yes. Luxury Pret - Maybe. Sana Safinaz are yet to open their pret stores across the country & it would be too early to assume their success at it, let alone grant an award for it. As far as luxury pret is concerned, maybe they could have replaced Body Focus.... Maybe.
2. There is no set rule. Big gun or a newbie, the work should speak for itself. I didn't feel any bias towards the big guns this time ( Sana Safinaz, HSY, were in none of the pret categories) , however I do think we're being too generous with some of the newcomers ( Mahnoush by Arjumand Amin & Deepak Perwani in Lawn? Did I miss something?).
3. It makes perfect sense to have a fixed number of nominations under each category ; you will have to draw the line somewhere. That said, it makes little sense to compare the achievements of a make-up artist to that of a designer or a model. It's like comparing Cara Delevingne to Marc Jacobs.
4. It would be great to see the LSAs speak of Fashion Media too next time. Fashion Journalism & Blogging is essential to the Industry & must be encouraged at prestigious platforms like these.
Nida Moughal
1. Yes, I was amazed when I didn't see their name in Pret Category.
2. It doesn't matter whether its a new talent or big old guns, its all about performance. Moreover there is an emerging talent category.
3. Its perfectly fine to have 5 nominees but the merger is not. Emerging talent should be judged in their separate categories.
4. Why is it happening in Lahore. LOL :D