Afghan models reveal the beauty under the burqa

By Jon Hemming

MAZAR-I-SHARIF, Afghanistan (Reuters Life!) - A model strutting the catwalk is hardly revolutionary in most countries, but Afghan television's answer to "America's Next Top Model" is breaking boundaries and revealing the beauty under the burqa.

Nearly six years after the overthrow of the strict Islamist Taliban government, almost all women in deeply conservative Afghanistan still only appear in public wafting past in the burqa's pale blue, their dark eyes only occasionally visible behind the bars of its grille.

But in the relatively liberal northern Afghan city of Mazar-i-Sharif, a local television station has started to show a different image of Afghan women with an extremely low-budget take on the hit "America's Next Top Model", a reality TV show in which judges choose prospective models from a group of contestants over several weeks.

"I was really enthusiastic to make this programme because I wanted the girls to present the clothes and themselves," said Sosan Soltani, the 18-year-old director of the programme.

"Afghanistan is free and these girls are the future of this country," she said.

Four girls in brightly coloured traditional costumes with baggy pants and long loose-fitting shawls and headscarves strode down the impromptu catwalk decked out in traditional Afghan rugs.

Seemingly less confident than their Western counterparts, they avoided the gaze of the all-male film crew and press.

A quick change later, the same four appeared in camouflage combat trousers, sneakers and embroidered smocks. Then came denim jeans, open-toed sandals and colourful lightweight jackets.