Changing Lives
In a world where beauty standards are more exclusionary than inclusionary, Pakistan’s Depilex Smileagain Foundation (DSF) and L’Oréal Pakistan, with funding from Fondation L’Oréal, celebrated a milestone as 60 women completed a four-month training course and gathered at the Depilex centre in Karachi to receive their certificates. The course falls under Beauty for a Better Life (BFBL) programme. BFBL isn’t about teaching only because it is rewriting the narrative of survival and recovery. These weren’t ordinary graduates. All of them were survivors of acid attacks and domestic violence. The training covered haircare, skincare, makeup and salon management, but meant far more than professional skills. It might sound simple, but for these women, it meant everything. It meant independence and a chance to rebuild their lives.
Masarrat Misbah explained at the graduation ceremony, “Beauty for a Better Life is more than a training programme. It restores dignity, reignites hope and opens real opportunities.”
The reality remains complex though. Many survivors still face discrimination in hiring, exclusion from family gatherings and limited long-term support systems. Masarrat Misbah emphasised the need for practical help in finding steady employment. Vocational training is only the beginning. Survivors need genuine opportunities to use what they’ve learnt.
Two weeks before the graduation, Runway SS’ 25 transformed what could have been another glamorous fashion event into something much more.
The event brought together the country’s designers, stylists, models, choreographers, fashion writers, bloggers, influencers, celebrities, and editors.
Masarrat Misbah, founder of the Depilex Smileagain Foundation (DSF), walked the runway alongside acid attack survivors and vision-impaired persons. The collaboration featured clothes by designer Zubair Shah. Professional models guided survivors down the catwalk, some with confident smiles, others with quiet determination. The audience of Pakistan’s fashion elite rose to their feet in applause. The moment was not just a shift in the narrative of victims becoming survivors. It meant a sense of belonging.
The fashion showcase was not only about the clothes. Renowned dancer Sheema Kermani performed Kathak to Faiz’s poetry, honouring colleagues the arts community has lost. Young dancers brought contemporary energy to classical forms. Designers displayed everything from traditional bridal wear to innovative garments. Transgender rights activist Kami Chaudhry walked as a showstopper, reinforcing the evening’s broader message of inclusion.
For Anwaar (name changed to protect identity), a young man who survived an acid attack, walking the runway fulfilled a dream he thought was lost forever. As a teenager, he aspired to model, but the attack made that seem impossible. “All my life I wanted to be a part of a fashion show and walk the runaway as a fashion model,” he said. “But I had to give up on my dream after the acid attack. Not in my wildest dream could I have imagined that I would walk the runaway as model after what happened to me. It is a dream come true.”
His experience captures the programme’s impact: (a) training survivors and equipping with tools for economic survival and (b) giving them a chance to believe that their dreams could become a reality.
Pakistan’s first Beauty for a Better Life showcase represented something bigger than a graduation ceremony. It was about refusal to let trauma be the last word in many lives. It was about communities stepping up and realising that beauty can be more than surface-level; it could be a tool for transformation. And that’s a kind of beauty that goes deeper than skin.