Mesfer comes from a family in Riyadh, the eldest of six children. AFP
Riyadh:
With his bright pink hair extensions and leopard print pantsuit, model Ziad al-Mesfer would undoubtedly turn heads during his recent public photo shoot in very conservative Saudi Arabia.
Passers-by secretly started snapping photos on their cellphones just minutes after Mesfer emerged from his white luxury car onto the cobbled sidewalks of a luxury café district in Riyadh, his stylist and photographer in tow.
Such appearances have helped Mesfer, 25, build a massive following on social media, as he paved the way for the handful of Saudi male models brave enough to wear garments widely considered to be only appropriate for women — and thus the pushing the boundaries of their country’s famously rigid gender norms.
In doing so, he has endeared himself to expensive brands eager to take advantage of a spectacle that would have been unimaginable before Saudi Arabia embarked on a whirlwind series of social reforms heralded by Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.
However, Mesfer’s approach carries significant risks.
Along with ardent fans — mostly bubbly teenage girls who follow him on Snapchat — there was an enraged middle-aged man who got out of his car to label Mesfer as “gay,” a possible capital offense. in Saudi Arabia.
The desert monarchy also traditionally forbids men who “imitate women” or wear women’s clothing, and vice versa.
Mesfer doesn’t identify as gay — he plans to marry a woman one day — and explains that he simply follows global brands’ embrace of androgynous fashion.
And despite occasional harassment in person and online, he told AFP he has no intention of leaving Saudi Arabia or changing his appearance.
“It’s better for me to stay in my country and wear these clothes,” he said, “not wait for a trip abroad to go out in a daring outfit.”
Fashionable next
Born to a family in Riyadh, the eldest of six children, Mesfer started developing his sense of style at an early age.
“I used to dress my mother, my aunts and my relatives. I loved to style them,” he said.
“My mom always consulted me about these things, so I became more interested in women’s fashion.”
He only dreamed of showing off his talents after Prince Mohammed began trying to soften the image of the kingdom, including expanding entertainment options and relaxing the rules requiring women to wear the abaya, an all-covering cloak and to wear hijab headscarves.
About two years ago, Mesfer started fashioning outfits online using the relatively secure medium Snapchat, which automatically deletes messages as soon as they are viewed.
Today, he has over two million Snapchat followers and another 200,000 on Instagram — the kind of influence that has captured the attention of brands like Prada and Dior.
When Gucci opened a new boutique in Riyadh last month, staff made sure to invite Mesfer to view the inventory, senior saleswoman Loulwa Mohammed said.
“It’s very important to invite him because if we invite him and take a video or photo of him wearing an item, it will be sold immediately,” Mohammed said. “All the Saudis — old women, young girls — all of them, they’re looking at him.”
‘A kind of artist’
Even if other male models and potential influencers follow suit, Mesfer remains alone in the classroom.
“He’s number one,” said a sales associate at Prada who, like others interviewed for this story, declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the subject.
Still, several fashion professionals said Saudi’s limited acceptance of Mesfer should not be misconstrued as a blanket endorsement of his behavior.
Instead, they said, Mesfer, who partly earns money from online advertising, is protected because he partners with luxury brands and hangs out with local celebrities who invite him to their events.
“We see him as a model, as a kind of artist, so we can’t judge him,” Gucci’s Mohammed said.
But she added: “Sometimes the reaction is negative. Saudi Arabia is a Muslim country. I wouldn’t want my brother to do the same.”
This conflicting perception of Mesfer is vividly reflected in the comments on his Instagram page.
In response to a February post in which Mesfer paired a bright red jacket with a figure-hugging purple turtleneck sweater, one user wrote “may God forgive us,” while another wrote, “I’m deleting Instagram after seeing this.”
However, another user was encouraging: “Ziad, keep going, I love you, take care of yourself for the people who love you and do what you love, and don’t care about words.”
(This story was not edited by DailyExpertNews staff and was generated automatically from a syndicated feed.)
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