In a small building in downtown Kabul, five girls who are part of a 34-member modeling group say they are determined to promote the traditional clothes of Afghanistan through the art.

Members of the modeling group said that nowadays people prefer to use traditional clothes for wedding parties.

Mahal Wak, 17, a school student in her last grades, said she has come from the insecure Laghman province, in the east of Kabul.

Wak follows her dreams of walking on big stages and giving modeling a new face in Afghanistan.

She is the youngest member of her family and five months ago she joined the modeling group in Kabul.

Besides modeling, Wak said she is busy in acting in Afghan movies.

“Modeling is a rare trend among girls in Afghanistan. I want to become a famous model. When I came here and saw the team, my interest increased for modeling,” Wak said.

The modeling girls have passed through many ups and downs to achieve their goals.

“I have a nice feeling that I am a model and that I am displaying traditional clothes,” said Fatima Saeedi, a model.

“This culture is neither mine nor of my team, it belongs to entire Afghanistan,” Atifa Fasihi, another model, said.

Head of the modeling group, Ajmal Haqiqi, said they hardly managed to add five girls to their team.

“We have a three and half months of probation period in which the models are prepared and then appear on stage. Then, there is another category that the girls appear in their related categories,” said Haqiqi.

Efforts are underway to expand modeling in the country, reports say.