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"  This week\u00A0Bazaar teamed up with Megha Mittal, Chairman &amp;amp;amp; Managing Director of Escada, to present a captivating conversation spanning literature, politics and fashion between Sacha Bonsor, Editor of harpersbazaar.co.uk, and debut novelist Fatima Bhutto. Guests at the champagne reception and literary salon, held at Escada\u2019s Sloane Street flagship, included theatre impresario Sally Green, Jeanne Marine, partner of Bob Geldof, His Excellency Alejandro Estivill, Mexican Ambassador, and his wife Mrs Flora Bustillos, Jemma Kidd, Tania Faires, Avery Agnelli and John Frieda. Pakistani writer Fatima Bhutto already has an established reputation as a writer of non-fiction and poetry, but The Shadow of the Crescent Moon is her first work of fiction. Perhaps best known for the highly charged political background from which she comes, it is sometimes assumed she must suffer pressure to enter politics as a result. But Bhutto, described by her great friend Megha Mittal as a \u2018woman\u2019s woman\u2019, always dreamed of becoming a writer, and credits her father - \u201Csomewhat of a feminist\u201D as the person who greatly encouraged her to develop her talents as a writer throughout her childhood, publishing a collection of poetry at only fifteen \u2013 with the result that as an adult she felt able to follow her literary passions. Nonetheless, she stressed that almost nothing could be separated from the political in literature and so inevitably her work is tied up with politics, even if often it focuses on the fates of individuals. As she says, &amp;quot;fiction is a compassionate act&amp;quot;. You could say there is something political about the strong presence of women in Bhutto\u2019s work. Whilst the main action of the novel takes place on a single morning and centres on the lives of three brothers and their often tragic choices, Fatima insists that \u201Cthe heartbeat of the novel is the two women characters.\u201D Responding to Sacha\u2019s question on the clich\u00E9 of the downtrodden South Asian woman, Bhutto rallied she has never met one of these women in her life \u2013 that in North Pakistan for example, women run the show, and the men are, by comparison, \u201Cfurniture.&amp;quot; As she said, \u201CIt\u2019s a harsh country... but it produces women with extraordinary spirit.\u201D On fashion, Bhutto said: \u201CWhen a woman dresses, she\u2019s expressing herself. I see fashion as something cultural, and political; all art, whether textiles or music or literature has to be celebrated, and preserved.\u201D Dressed in a beautiful all-in-one trouser suit of black crepe with long, sheer sleeves and lace detail from Escada, if fashion is self-expression, then the portrait of this artist is exceptionally elegant, intellectually and sartorially: a woman\u2019s woman, who perfectly captures Bazaar\u2019s mantra of \u2018thinking fashion\u2019. by Phoebe Cooke Buy The Shadow of the Crescent Moon on amazon here Pictured: Sacha Bonsor, Fatima Bhutto and Megha Mittal "^^<http://www.w3.org/2001/XMLSchema#string>
<http://www.harpersbazaar.co.uk/fashion/fashion-news/news/a8705/an-evening-at-escada-with-fatima-bhutto-and-bazaar/>