LAWN MADNESS

 So as the temperature goes down Billboard of Designer lawn goes up with beautiful women flashing smiles at you from advertisements put up all over town. From Bollywood actresses to Pakistani divas, these models silently promise that you will look ravishing and stylish in that particular brand of lawn. This is just the beginning of the lawn madness. Every year, designers hold exhibitions selling overpriced lawn where thousands of women claw and push each other to get the best pieces. Even if the prints are a big disappointment, women will still wait in long lines at exhibition venues.

There are an estimated 60 premium lawn brands in Pakistan, led by the likes of Bareezé, Kayseria, Gul Ahmed, Ittehad, Five Stars, Al Karam, Firdaus and Lakhani including Designer Lawn like HSY, Sana Safinaz etc. There are the Icons and the Crescents, the originals and the not-so-originals; there are those who can afford to have Indian celebrities as endorsers and those who get by by hiring local. For mere spectators like us, this season promises an exciting drama, starring the country’s biggest textile tycoons, fashion designers and the thinnest models, played out on the Billboards and TV.

These lawn fabric exhibitions have become the latest status symbol of the elite of Pakistan. So what if you can’t afford to drive a seven series? You can afford to wear a designer Lawn suit, the acquisition of which is more difficult than you might think. And so, the race begins. If an exhibition will open its doors at 10 am, you can see prospective buyers gathering at the venue two hours prior to the event. Many lawn exhibitions have arranged for first aid, as claustrophobia and lack of oxygen due to too many women rushed in a single hall, can result in someone passing out. Pushing, shoving and refusing to follow the queue can, and does, result in a bruise or a scratch every now and then. Eye witness accounts of respectable women abusing salesmen at exhibitions have been recorded. If the salesmen declare that the stock is finished within the first few hours of the exhibition, frustrated buyers in disbelief have actually climbed behind the tables where the lawn was being displayed! Some come back so disappointed and decide that they would never to go to that exhibit again. Yet, one such lady confessed that in the afternoon when she know that fresh stock had arrived, she sheepishly went back there again and returned victoriously with a bundle of joy.

It was believed that lawn was the material which everybody could afford. Now it seems more like the material for the elites. Some buy it, just because it’s *oh so designer-ish*, some buy it just to wear it once and then pass it on to their maids. Some wait for the copies or as we civilized people call it a replica.

Lawn is pure cotton based, absorbent and ideal to be worn in our climate. There is nothing wrong with purchasing and flaunting this beautiful fabric, but given the pushing, shoving and obsessing, aren't Pakistani women going a bit overboard every passing year?

When I look at women at these exhibitions, I wonder how people can say that Pakistan is a poor country.