Khadija Shah and her brands Elan and Zaha are in the line of fire again. It all started when a plethora of former employees including models and photographers took to social media on Wednesday to name and shame Shah for not releasing payments for months.

Two Lahore-based models Atika Gardezi and Abeera Riaz posted on their Instagram profiles about how they had not been paid for their work since a very long time.

“If you think I’m wrong or arrogant for asking for my payments then don’t work with me. We ourselves feel embarrassed, naming, and shaming brands like this but some of them are so shameless, that they leave us with no choice. Hint, it’s just one brand that has two brands in it,” posted Riaz on her Instagram story.

Gardezi shared a photo of herself from the campaign she modelled for and said, “Mere paise kidher hain (Where is my money), Zaha?”

Social media users stood in support of the models and called for people to boycott the brands.

Users also complained about never receiving their paid for orders from the brands.

The criticism led to a positive development and some of the models who had spoken up received their payments along with an apology from Shah in Dawn images, in which she claimed that the pandemic has made it difficult for her business to stay afloat. The statement also received ire from many users.

Model Mydah Raza posted on Instagram that she had received her full payment after three years.

However, not everyone was as lucky as Raza to get everything that they were owed.

One social media user pointed out that this is an example of the recurring theme of the powerful exploiting the working class for their gain.

It is pertinent to note here that the fashion house and designer were also caught in a controversy in 2020, when a video featuring a supposed worker alleged that Shah illegally detained and tortured him.