Daughter Of Uzbekistan's Dictator Booted From Fashion Week

Every year, New York Fashion Week brings together fashion's biggest names and its most ardent hopefuls — those wishing to stay on top and those catching their first big break. Gulnara "GooGoosha" Karimova, the daughter of Uzbekistan's infamous leader, Islam Karimov, does not exactly fit into either category. She's neither a big name in fashion nor a humble up-and-comer. Though she has been accused of complicity in her father's crimes against human rights, the fact remains that she needs somewhere to launch her new spring line.

Karimova, 39, is a high-ranking official in her father's government and Uzbekistan's ambassador to the United Nations. She also enjoys the pleasures of pop culture, having made a music video with international superstar Julio Iglesias, booked Sting for a 2009 festival in Tashkent, and launched her colorful “Guli” fashion line, which features embroidered trims and traditional Uzbek blends of cotton and silk.

The Human Rights Watch was up-in-arms about Karimova's scheduled runway show at the prestigious Lincoln Center on September 15. "There's nothing fashionable about lending a high-profile platform to the senior official of one of the world's most repressive governments," Steve Swerdlow, an Uzbekistan researcher at Human Rights Watch, told New York Post.

IMG, which produces the Mercedes-Benz Fashion Week, chose to disinvite Karimova from showing her line during Fashion Week, and offered to refund the $30K she had spent on rental fees for the production. In response, the dictator's daughter made plans to hold her show at the upscale restaurant, Cipriani. She also reached out to several New York embassies that represent "friendly nations."