(Manasa Gudavalli for WSN)
Pleated cottons, flowing chiffons and lightweight silks, mainstays of South Asian fashion, carefully draped the models as they prepared to close the show. first South Asian New York Fashion Week. Aptly titled “The Future of Fashion,” the closing South Asian NYFW runway at High Line Nine Gallery on September 14 featured a variety of the best South Asian designs, some of which also included Western influences.
Shipra Sharma, founder and CEO of South Asian NYFW, pitched the idea for an inclusive South Asian event to COO Hetal Patel after seeing another Fashion Week show wearing a skirt and blouse ensemble she appropriated. culturally of a lehenga choli: a three-piece skirt, blouse, and scarf. In fact, my own prom in 2019 had many students wearing these new prom dresses cut in the exact styles of lehengas.
“It was the year that ‘cohort sets’ became popular,” Sharma said. “I turned to one of my press colleagues standing next to me and said, ‘Wait, that’s a lehenga.’ And she’s like, ‘Wait, what’s that?’ and I was like, ‘What? that’s design’ and I believe the origins and stories of our designs have been lost untold and I believe this is the generation that will proudly tell our stories to the world.”
Shipra Sharma, Founder and CEO of South Asian New York Fashion Week. (Manasa Gudavalli for WSN)
The runway was not without controversy. Activists outside held signs against the glass windows facing the gallery before it started. Shazia Ilmi, spokeswoman for the Bharatiya Janata Party, the right-wing political party that controls India’s government, spoke at the closing catwalk announcing the New York edition of the Jaipur Literature Festival. Calling Ilmi an “apologist for genocide”, protesters retaliated against a controversial citizenship law passed by the Indian government in 2019.
“We know that the boycott is against a few people in this room,” said Sanjoy Roy, an official at the Jaipur Literature Festival. “We know that a few weeks ago here there was a horrible incident against a writer, Salman Rushdie… You have the right to protest as long as you do it without violence. That’s all we ask for.
The controversial speaker soon left the stage, and with her, the protesters as well. House music blared from the venue’s sound system and the walkway opened.
Protesters chant and hold signs outside the South Asian New York Fashion Week show at the High Line Nine Galleries. (Manasa Gudavalli for WSN)
Designer Nikita Shah introduced her brand Untitle by Nikita, a sustainable label that recycles dead fabrics that are not sold in India. Block printing, a process whereby a hand-cut block of wood is used to imprint designs onto the fabric, was a common feature of Shah’s sarees. Two distinctive textiles, Kalamkari and Ajrakh, from the Indian states of Andhra Pradesh and Gujarat, hit the runway. The sarees were hand painted with a bamboo pen and naturally dyed.
“With upcycling becoming so cool, it’s something that’s very ingrained in South Asian culture,” Shah said. “That’s something I’ve seen my grandmother, our ancestors do: take leftover sarees and make blankets out of them.”
Designer Naseer Khan debuted his label Aazadi, which means freedom in Urdu and Persian, with a beige block print of Kashmiri paisley motifs on black and the brand name in the Urdu alphabet on both his hoodies and pants. tracksuit The audience, which included the founder of the non-profit organization Indiaspora, MR Rangaswami, looked at each other in awe at the digitally designed block-printed peacock on the back of a cream-colored sweatshirt. The duality in design and form somehow felt representative of the melding of South Asian and American identities.
“I am truly proud to see the evolution of our next generation take center stage in New York and the United States,” Rangaswami said. “How they adapted to the West but still maintain our culture, you can see it in every outfit.”
Aks Mathur, a Seattle-based premium artisan leather brand, creates art on bags instead of putting on brand logos like other luxury companies. The models wore black to draw the audience’s attention to their leather bags. What someone who loves to travel, I was captivated by the latest collection, KÄRÅ, inspired by designer Aks Mathur’s memories of traveling to new places and the absence of those experiences due to COVID-19. (Mathur also featured on Flying Solo in 2021.)
The intricate craftsmanship is evident in the SONAR shoulder bag, which, with its charming hand-painted motifs, reflects the carvings on the stone walls of the historic Jaisalmer Fort in Rajasthan, India. Mathur also looked to nature, referencing the colors of the crashing tides on the ENSŌ bag and the tranquility found in the Valley of Flowers in Uttarakhand, India on the Paradisus bag.
(Manasa Gudavalli for WSN)
Lamb kebab bites and sev puri chaat gave guests the feel of a traditional wedding reception. Burgundy sangrias and chardonnay rosé topped with aromatic rose petals had rapper-producer NAV saying, “Wow, this wine is really good.”
Sana Ali Khan is the founder and designer of Aara By Sana, a luxury women’s clothing line designed in New York City and manufactured internationally. Her clothes are influenced by her dual identities: being half Indian and half Pakistani.
“My first job when I was 13 was at a fabric store, and that’s where I really fell in love with textiles,” Khan said. “I was talking to my husband about Balenciaga and the nose chain. I think in the next few years, you’re going to see a lot more of this brown movement.”
Aara by Sana featured conversation starters. Known for her blazers and her juxtapositions of black and white, Khan presented a white leather blazer mixed with an unexpected combination of sustainable silk, delicate chiffon and beads teamed with a dhoti, a loincloth traditionally worn by men. A pleated black dress and a mirror-worked white crop top were reminiscent of the clothes she’d worn as a child at festivals.
(Manasa Gudavalli for WSN)
Although Noopur Luthra, Marketing Director, said that the South Asia NYFW was meant to highlight the fact that the South Asian region is not just India or Pakistan, but also countries like Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and Nepal, this fair The particular one I attended did not include labels from countries other than India and Pakistan.
Based in Karachi, Pakistan, designer and label Nomi Ansari closed the show with eclectic samples ranging from digital art print kurtas and salwars to grand lehengas and kurtas in gold and cerulean blue. The clothes shimmered with every move the models made down the runway.
“It was a lot of pressure for me because I was the only one from Pakistan,” Ansari said. “The continent has a lot to offer in terms of colours, patterns, embroidery and that’s what we’re known for.”
Nomi Ansari headlines South Asian New York Fashion Week. (Manasa Gudavalli for WSN)
When asked about the protests, Ansari asked that everyone respect each other.
“Respect all religions and never include your race or religion in your friendships, relationships, at work, everything,” Ansari said. “Treat humans like humans.”
Contact Roshni Raj at [email protected]
Source: news.google.com