The Hum Style Awards' nominations are out, and we have some questions

Year after year, we've heard a similar complaint — award shows don't bring anything new to the prime-time TV slot. Will this change with the newest award show in town?

We're getting closer to the day of Pakistan's only other style awards, the first ever QMobile Hum Style Awards — and the nominations are in.

Categories include Best Model, Best Hair & Makeup Artist, Best Fashion Photographer, Best Designer - Demi-Couture, Best Designer - Bridal, Best Designer - Lawn, Best Designer - Fashion Jewellery, Best Designer - Menswear, Retail Brand of the Year - Apparel, Best Fashion Publication and a QMobile Rising Star.

Most Stylish Awards will also be awarded to film and TV actors, singers, TV hosts and sport personalities.

The stage is set for a celebration of "trendsetters in fashion and entertainment", but the most pressing question on our minds is 'Will Hum TV remain objective?' The tendency of TV channel-sponsored award shows to honour their own productions has reduced them to mere television entertainment with no real credibility, and the hope is that Hum TV will not follow suit in favouring the stars with whom they have the closest association.

Another question that begs asking is the exact criteria of the style awards. Are they being doled out to celebs that dress the best on-screen (in which case the credit really goes to the film's stylist, costume designers, director and other people with creative input) or off-screen, where the celebrities' own preferences are likely to come into play.

Either way, one is confused by the presence of Hamza Ali Abbasi in the style nominations. The actor has been vocal in his rejection of style statements, but is in the running for his second style award this year, the first having been awarded to him at the Lux Style Awards in July.

Other nominees that surprised include Feroze Khan who hardly ever makes an impression and Urwa Hocane, who is often singled out as the worst dressed at red carpets and isn’t ‘Most Stylish’ by a long shot.

Television hosts are, again, hardly stylish, especially those that go about gifting rickshaws and motorcycles to their audience. Fahad Mustafa, for instance, usually evades designer-wear, opting to boost a brand called ‘Cherry’ – and when he goes on promotional rounds for his movie, he makes blunders like wearing over-ripped jeans. Sana Bucha, Huma Amir Shah and HSY, though, certainly have style.

Noticeably missing from the nominations is one Fawad Khan, but the omission has probably got to do more with the fact that he hasn't featured prominently in a Pakistani production — TV or film — in the past year.

Also read: Fawad Khan in a bowtie at the Grazia Awards is possibly his best look ever

Many big names were snubbed in the fashion categories. For instance, Elan and Faraz Manan were ignored in the Demi-couture category (more on that later), Sana Safinaz and HSY are not present in the Bridal category while a relatively younger designer like Zainab Chottani gets recognized. In Menswear, Deepak Perwani and HSY ignored despite showing menswear collections last year – perhaps this is because both designers are ostensibly more inclined towards womenswear now?

Another thing that had us scratching our heads is what classifies as demi couture in the Pakistani context? Demi couture is defined as the in-between of pret and haute couture — it's fashion that has the high quality and fine embellishments of couture but is available to be picked up off the racks. It sounds like luxury pret — and a fashion insider confirms that demi-couture is Hum TV's new word for the same.

Fashion Publication of the Year leaves one confused because most fashion publications tend to be over-infested with ads and very little exclusive matter. One wonders how the jury managed to decide upon the results for this category.

The full list of nominations of the QMobile Hum Style Awards, which takes place on October 28, is below:

BEST FEMALE MODEL

Amna Babar

Rabia Butt

Sadaf Kanwal

Fouzia Aman

Sunita Marshall

BEST MALE MODEL

Shahzad Noor

Jahan-E-Khalid

Hasnain Lehri

Aimal Khan

Waleed Khalid

HAIR & MAKEUP ARTIST OF THE YEAR

Hannan Siddique

Raana Khan

Natasha Khalid

Toni & Guy North Pakistan

Nabila

FASHION PHOTOGRAPHER OF THE YEAR

Shahbaz Shazi

Guddu Shani

Nadir Firoz Khan

Abdullah Haris

Azeem Sani

QMobile RISING STAR

Ashna Khan

Zara Abid

Anam Malik

Shoaib Khan

Umair Bin Nisar

Stopstyle

Mahgul

DESIGNER OF THE YEAR - DEMI-COUTURE

Sana Safinaz

Shamaeel Ansari

Body Focus Museum

Shehla Chatoor

Zaheer Abbas

DESIGNER OF THE YEAR - BRIDAL

Zainab Chottani

Nomi Ansari

Shehla Chatoor

Elan

Faraz Manan

DESIGNER OF THE YEAR - LAWN

Elan

Shehla Chatoor

Sana Safinaz

Zara Shahjahan

Faraz Manan

DESIGNER OF THE YEAR - MENSWEAR

Republic By Omar Farooq

Nauman Arfeen

Ismail Farid

Munib Nawaz

Amir Adnan

DESIGNER OF THE YEAR - FASHION JEWELRY

Samina Ibrahim

Amber Sami

Rema

Zohra Rahman

RETAIL BRAND OF THE YEAR - APPAREL

Khaadi

Gul Ahmed

Sana Safinaz

Generation

Sapphire

MOST STYLISH ACTOR TELEVISION

Junaid Khan

Imran Abbas

Hamza Ali Abbasi

Feroze Khan

Ahsan Khan

MOST STYLISH ACTRESS TELEVISION

Syra Shahroz

Ayesha Omar

Nausheen Shah

Aamina Sheikh

Urwa Hocane

MOST STYLISH ACTOR FILM

Mohib Mirza

Humayun Saeed

Adeel Husain

Sheheryar Munawar

Sikander Rizvi

MOST STYLISH ACTRESS FILM

Humaima Malik

Iman Ali

Mehwish Hayat

Sanam Saeed

Mahira Khan

MOST STYLISH PERFORMER MALE

Ali Zafar

Asim Azhar

Atif Aslam

Shahzad Roy

Umair Jaswal

MOST STYLISH PERFORMER FEMALE

Hadiqa Kiani

Zoe Viccaji

Sara Haider

Meesha Shafi

Quratulain Balouch

MOST STYLISH SPORTING PERSONALITY

Shahid Afridi

Shoaib Malik

Aisam-Ul-Haq

MOST STYLISH TELEVISION HOST

Fahad Mustafa

Faisal Qureshi

Hassan Sheheryar Yasin

Huma Amir Shah

Sana Bucha

THE FASHION PUBLICATION OF THE YEAR

Libas International

Diva

Niche lifestyle

Visage

Brides & You

Me & My Wedding