Vogue on Libya: the war women in Dior and how Gucci inspired the new flag
IN “WOMEN Under Siege”, Vogue’sintrepid reporter Marie Colvin meets Nissreen Abad and Reem Bishti in the wealthy Tripoli suburb of Hay Andalus. Vogue is the magazine that saluted Assad of Syria’s wife Asma al-Assad for being thin.
Highlights are many:
* “The two moved in together while the ragtag army of engineers, IT teccies, shopkeepers and students defeated the regime of Mummar Gaddafi in August”
That, the UN sanctions, Nato warplanes and the SAS (see here for our exclusive)…
* Reem: “Staying in Tripoli’s our way of fighting. Somehow, by refusing to evacuate …we reclaimed our country”
That and the SAA, Nato bombs etc.
* ‘Reem’s home is a “world away from the potholed streets… By the time I am seated in a room with spacious couches, paintings on the wall bought by Reem’s father, and trays of juice and nibbles, I almost wish I had spent the war with this natural comedy team.’
Mary Colvin could write the jokes – but would you be able to spot them?
* ‘Nisreem, whose scatty role-playing doesn’t hide her keen intelligence, is the perfect foil for Reem’s dark, curvaceous Mediterranean earth mother.’
Think Cannon and Ball.
* ‘…it wasn’t easy getting daily basics. Nissreem sent her younger brother to buy sanitary towels… “He came back with an entire car load of Always”‘
* Kathy [Kathy Leguel] is fiend of Nisseem’s mother: ‘Kathy spent most of the war desperate for her Dior eyebrow pencil. Eventually, ‘the shop owner searched Tripoli, and found my colour,’ Kathy said. ‘He told me, ‘It’s a war. You’re worth it!'”
* Ibtihal: ‘During the war… she ate dark chocolate and berries, and read everything she could about antioxidants… “I felt it was my fault young Libyans were dying so I splashed out on exercising”‘
* ‘Who can predict what will be a comfort when bombs are falling? Huda Khshim…had her teeth whitened”
And finally:
* ‘Her latest avatar is the new Libyan flag, its red and green bands bearing a striking resemblance to the Gucci colours”
And know that Nissreem is on the side of good, going as far as “defriending” Gaddafi supporters on her Facebook page…
They’ll make films about this one day…
Posted: 24th, January 2012 | In: Reviews Comment (1) | TrackBack | Permalink
