Generation and makeup artist Saima Bargfrede have rejected their Lux Style Award nominations to show solidarity with survivors of sexual harassment.
In March, Lux Style Awards announced a list of nominees in which Generation had been nominated for ‘Achievement in Fashion Design (pret)’, while Bargfrede has been nominated for ‘Best Hair and Makeup Artist’.
In a press release issued on Monday, Generation and Bargfrede said they “have decided to follow in Best Emerging Talent nominee Eman Suleman’s footsteps and step down from this year’s ceremony. The decision is to support the model and to protest to the award platform’s choice to include a nomination for an individual who faces serious and credible accusations of sexual harassment.”
GENERATION will not attend this year’s Lux Style Awards where the brand has been nominated for Achievement in Fashion Design (pret), due to the inclusion of a nominee that has been repeatedly accused of sexual misconduct by multiple women.https://t.co/kPsYBzcbpl…
— GENERATION (@GENERATION_PK) April 22, 2019
They said that they were “honoured” to have been nominated. “The two brands stand with women who face and fight toxic misogyny, sexism and sexual harassment in multiple ways in pursuance of their dreams and indeed in their daily lives,” the statement reads.
Earlier on April 1, model Eman Suleman had turned down her candidacy for the Best Emerging Talent category, saying she felt “no joy” in sharing a nomination for the Lux Style Awards with an “alleged harasser”.
“What I’m going to say next is probably going to result in a lot of eye rolls and vitriol. I am tired of talking about it, to be honest [but] I do not wish to be part of an accolade that is shared with an alleged harasser,” said Suleman in a video message over her social media. However, she did not mention in the video who she was referring to.
“I feel no joy. I don’t. I am basically done. I’m done,” she had stated, referring to the persistent trolling of and attacks on social media on women and their allies who speak up against sexual harassment and misconduct.