The man from Paris Mehmood Bhatti

One gleans a lot about Punjabi, Paris-based fashion designer Mehmood Bhatti by paying attention to him speaking in different languages. His belligerent nature comes across when he barks in simple Urdu to the hotel operator complaining about the air-conditioning. His savoir faire is felt when he speaks to a Parisian friend over the telephone in faultless French; while his almost innocent persona bubbles when he speaks to me in his almost painful English.

Much has already been documented about Bhatti’s almost Dickensian rise from “a not privileged life” in Lahore to the epicentre of the fashion capital of the world: Paris.

After graduating from Government College Lahore in 1977 he winged it to Paris to study for an MBA degree “without any money. I had zero times zero times zero money. I slept under the Metro. I looked through the garbage for food.” However, he soon found employment at the now defunct retail boutique Mages, first as a cleaner, then a packager, working his way up to become a gregarious salesman. He knew he had the gift of the gab and street smarts, and in three short years he opened his own retail outlet in 1980.

Hence this trip to Pakistan. Bhatti is visiting, first to touch base with his somewhat cloudy, impalpable and decidedly unembraced roots, but also to prepare for a three-city fashion tour to celebrate his 25 years in fashion, an event that will culminate with a large party in Paris.

“I will return on March 13, 2005, and will have a fashion show in Lahore on March 15; Islamabad on March 17, and finally in Karachi on March 19.”

Bhatti will employ Parisienne cabines (runway models) with “hair and make up people and the choreographer also coming from Paris.” All proceeds from the show will be donated to the Umeed-i-Noor charity.

The past year has been quite an eventful and prestigious one for Bhatti. On March 23, 2004 Bhatti received the Sitara-i-Imtiaz, the highest honour bestowed to a civilian. “I felt very good receiving this honour. It was a very important milestone for me. You receive it once but it stays with you for a lifetime. It has given me the incentive to work even harder for and in Pakistan.” He has already embarked on a slew of charitable endeavours in the form of creating scholarships at the National College of the Arts (NCA); three in the Fine Arts department at Punjab University; and one at the Pakistan School of Fashion Design (PSFD).

“The Minister of Commerce, Humayoun Akhtar, suggested I open up a fashion institute in Pakistan and this is another of my long-term ventures. I would employ foreign teachers trained at ES Mode (a prestigious French fashion school).” Bhatti also remains an Honorary Investment Councilor of Pakistan in France.

Much of Bhatti’s early life has been documented in his autobiography, Paris Mein Doosra Janam (Another Life in Paris) and the docu-film La Verite Si Je Mens (The Truth If I Lie).

“My second autobiographical book will be published very soon.”

What does this second tome include? “It’s a secret. If I tell people what it’s about then no one will want to buy it,” he laughs. It may, however, include episodes of the downward spiral and final dissolution of Bhatti’s 13-year marriage, four years ago, to his US born, Native American wife, Denise, a former Chanel model.

“We’re still very good friends. She lives in the US and still works in fashion,” he explains. “But I don’t ask her too much about her new life.” Mehmood and Denise have two children; a 14-year-old son, Shiraz, and a 10-year-old daughter, Alicia. “What I liked about my marriage was that my wife was very involved in my fashion business. I don’t like the concept of Pakistani marriages where parents arrange for two people to get together to share intimacies without really getting to know each other intellectually beforehand. It’s very important for couples to work, holiday, and have fun together.”

So is a second marriage on the horizon? Perhaps this time someone from Pakistan?

He muses and then replies, “I don’t know.”