On August 24, the official Twitter account of the Chinese Ambassador to France attempted to pass off bridal apparel from Karachi as Uyghurs’ traditional attire. With the hashtags #costume #Xinjing, they posted a photo from a fashion show in Pakistan and claimed it was a traditional Uyghur Muslim outfit. The account, however, was exposed after internet users pointed out that the image was taken at a fashion show in Karachi, Pakistan. The wedding outfit displayed in the image is well-known in both Pakistan and India.
A screenshot of a Tweet with the same image from the China-state-affiliated media outlet XH Japanese from August 23 was uploaded by Twitter user MugdhaDeshmukh. A bridal festival fashion display was mentioned in the tweet.
OpIndia discovered two sites that contained the same image after conducting a reverse image search. On August 18, a report from News.cn with images from the Karachi bridal fashion show was published. The image’s caption reads, “A model displays a creation at a bridal festival fashion show in Karachi, a port city in southern Pakistan, on August 18, 2022.” Notably, the photo was also released by a Chinese media outlet.
The fashion show featured a wide range of wedding dresses, including lehengas, shararas, and more, according to pipanews.com. In addition to other models, the show featured Pakistani actors Reema Khan, ShaughtaEjaz, Rebecca Khan, ShaistaLodhi, NeelamMunir, Nadia Hussain, SarwatGeelani, and Saba Faisal.
