Disha Patani

While actress Disha Patani may be receiving backlash online for her daring sari from the second night of the event, we personally loved it. The look was made up of a silver sparkling bustier with a low-waisted skirt and sari to match. Disha has been known to experiment with both traditional and western styles and we think that this look blends them perfectly. 

Zendaya

One thing about Zendaya is she always nails a dress code. Whether it’s the Met Gala or the Oscars, Zendaya is always on theme and ensures that her outfit fits the event that she is attending; the NMACC Gala was no exception. Zendaya opted for a custom look by Rahul Mishra that incorporated the astrological designs that he often uses in his designs. The midnight-blue look had glistening stars hand-embroidered throughout it that perfectly tied in with the gold bralette that the actress wore. The lower parts of the skirt and sari were also embroidered with delicate florals, adding additional dimension to the look as well as introducing another one of Rahul’s key design themes.

Anusha Dandekar

One of the events’ three hosts absolutely stole the show at the NMACC Gala; Anusha Dandekar wore a red two-piece gown with statement layered necklaces. The most beautiful part of this look was its dramatic sleeves; the sheer embroidered material flowed down from the shoulders and gathered at the floor with the train of the skirt. The sleeves draped so perfectly that they appeared almost fluid. We honestly love when hosts of the event get their moment; and with this look Anusha Dandekar truly earned hers.

Gigi Hadid

Gigi Hadid was a golden goddess on this pink carpet. Wearing a custom look from Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla the golden Chikankari sari truly displayed the immense artistry and intricate detail that makes Indian fashion so beautiful. Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla described the look as:

“Kamasutra-inspired, South Indian temple jewellery cropped sleeve jacket blouse edged with bold tassels paired with a slim chikankari skirt and chikan sari drape. The chikan is exquisitely hand-embroidered by female artisans at Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla atelier in Lucknow, Uttar Pradesh. Crystals and sequin highlights and bold, gold zardozi borders add to its ethereal elegance to create a masterpiece fit for a Goddess.”

Nitya Arora

Nitya Arora showcased modern Indian Haute Couture at this event wearing a custom Gaurav Gupta mini dress. The grey dress was paired with matching tights and shoes to create the monochromatic look that has been exceedingly popular in recently years. The dress itself was sculptural yet delicately structured, the combination of tulle used for the skirt and high neckline with the silhouette of the look mimicked the shape of petals, accentuating the soft beauty of the design. 

Suhana Khan

Suhana Khan wore a sparkling gold sari by Sabyasachi. The sheer material was delicately embroidered with beautiful craftmanship. The skirt and sari were in a rich almost-burnt gold tone that perfectly complemented the more metallic gold of the embellished bralette. The gold-tones of this look made it regal and ethereal and was easily one of our favourites from the weekend.

Priyanka Chopra 

Priyanka Chopra provided us with multiple looks throughout this weekend, but our favourite has to be her blush pink look from the first night. The sparkling gown was beautifully embellished with sparkling gemstones tightly covering the upper half of the look before dispersing further away from one another throughout the skirt. The best part of this look, however, was the cape detailing. This weekend gave us many fantastic cape moments and, honestly, we are still not over it.

Emma Chamberlain

Emma Chamberlain blew us away this weekend. Her looks were immaculate, whether she was attending red-carpet events or casually exploring the city, she did it in style. The highlight, however, had to be the vibrant yellow look that she wore on the second night. Designed by Falguni Shane Peacock the two-piece was yet another look that did justice to the sheer artistry that goes into the Indian fashion industry. The colour was bright and bold, maintaining Emma’s fun and quirky style whilst drawing inspiration from traditional Indian designs.

Kushi Kapoor

Kushi Kapoor wore potentially one of the most elaborately embellished looks of the entire weekend, and we loved it. It was one of those looks that was so beautifully beaded that you can’t help but wonder how heavy it was to move in. But regardless of the answer to that question, we can confidently say that it was worth it. The beautiful tulle sleeves that stemmed from just below the bust was such a unique detail that made the look standout amongst the crowd.

Young Emperors

Content creators Young Emperors took their matching couples’ looks to Mumbai. Wearing golden pieces from Vaishali S Couture the pair looked amazing on the pink carpet. Vaishali S Couture prides itself on creating “Classic Indian weaves that transcend into wearable art” and that is exactly what these looks did. 

Sonam Kapoor

Sonam Kapoor wore an archival piece from Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla that was “made with 20 unique individual panels spanning 35 years of Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla’s design history.” Abu Jani Sandeep Khosla described the look on Instagram as:

“This gajji silk lehenga is hand embroidered with panels in zardozi, resham, vasli , marodi and tikki in a multitude of floral and moghul motifs and paired with a vasli and Swarovski corset and finished with a silk tissue throw hand embroidered in Gold and silver work to create a veritable masterpiece.”

Law Roach

Stylist Law Roach matched with Zendaya in a look by Rahul Mishra. The hand embroidered custom sherwani Jacket was paired with a matching lehenga skirt. The bold floral embroidery starkly contrasted the smaller details that we had seen throughout the night, daringly standing out against the crowd whilst still acknowledging the importance of embroidery in India’s fashion history.

Tahira Kashyap

Tahira Kashyap wore one of the few suits we saw throughout the weekend and, honestly, it was amazing. The rich red colour paired with beautiful gold embroidery perfectly paid homage to Indian fashion tradition but added modern western elements to the look through the chosen silhouette of the suit. We loved the blending of both traditional and modern influences as well as Indian and western fashion trends in this look.

Kriti Sanon

Kriti Sanon wore a black and gold ensemble by Monisha Jaising. The exceptionally detailed gown featured a high slit down the leg and an encompassing cape that draped just below the shoulders, allowing the asymmetrical single shoulder detailing of the gown to be fully visible. Our favourite aspect of this look, however, was the way that it was accessorised, the beautiful statement earrings were on show thanks to the sleek plait hairstyle that Kriti opted for, and the earrings perfectly matched the intricate gold rings that tied the whole look together.

_{Words by: Amelia Gregory}

^{Header Image: The NMACC Gala Pink Carpet}

The post The NMACC Gala Was a Celebration of India’s Stunning Fashion Culture appeared first on Voir Fashion.

Both Chiuri and Dior have a long history with India and this was embraced for the collaboration through work relations and friendship. She has a close friendship with Karishma Swali, the director of Chanakya atelier and Chanakya school of craft. Chiuri first began working with the atelier two decades ago and the collection relies on their mastery of embroidery and traditional Indian techniques, while putting emphasis on empowering female Indian artisans and their inventiveness.

Dior’s relationship with India goes even further back, with former artistic director Marc Bohan
travelling to India in 1962 to showcase looks in Mumbai and Delhi.

Chiuri paid homage to the initial meeting by incorporating a quote found in the archives, ‘L’Union fait la force’, meaning ‘Union is strength’ into the collection, visualising how working together creates fresh connective energies, like combining classic Dior silhouettes with traditional Indian designs.

The show took place at the Gateway of India monument in Mumbai, which was built in the early 20th century to commemorate the British monarchy’s first-ever visit to India. The arch is a metaphor for the fusion of cultures and traditions. Erected in front of the arch was a 14-meter-tall Toran, an embroidered fabric traditionally hung at the entrance to welcome guests into your home. It featured elephants, tigers, and peacocks and took 35,000 hours of handwork and encompassed 25 craft techniques. The Chanakya ateliers and School of Craft worked together over several months to create it using phulkari, french knotting, kantha, and mirror work techniques. After emerging from the Toran, models paraded between dozens of gold candles and ornate arrangements of marigolds.

The 99 models, with many being Indian, wore bright-coloured silks, traditional Indian cuts, boleros, gold and silver, and sari-inspired skirts. ‘Zardozi’, metal embroidery, and ‘Ek Taar’, elaborate embroidery using a single thread, adorned the outfits.

Celebrities also came out in force, from legendary cricketers to famous Hindi actresses.

Simone Ashley

Celebrating her 28th birthday, Simone Ashley styled this white Dior gown with a pearl necklace, a common theme in the collection.

£ 605

Michael Lo Sordo Silk-satin camisole

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£ 4310.20

Dior Lady Dior Leather Handbag

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£ 710

Dior Montaigne Long Necklace

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£ 475

Gucci Leather Thong Sandal With Double G

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Anushka Sharma

Attending with her husband, actress Anushka Sharma paired a yellow silk Dior gown with a yellow mini Miss Dior bag.

£ 2290

Bottega Veneta Washed Silk Dress

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£ 3695

Dior Lady Dior Small Bag

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£ 850

Dior & Moi Slingback Pump

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Raja Kumari

Rapper Raja Kumari wore a metallic green sari from Delhi-based designer Rimzim Dadu.

£ 1320

Rimzim Dadu Jade Green Metallic Sari

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£ 490

Dior Revolution Earrings

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_{Words by Lucy Walshe}

^{Header Image by Indranil Mukherjee}

The post Dior Celebrates Indian Talent In Mumbai appeared first on Voir Fashion.

Drawing inspiration from her Indian culture and influences such as Alice Coltrane and Asha Puthli and blending it with the sound of early 2000s R&B creates the unique and electrifying sound of Raveena. This sound is then married with spiritual story-telling and idiosyncratic lyricism like no other.

Raveena’s upcoming album ‘Asha’s Awakening’ has been in the works for three years – with Raveena making a huge effort to ensure listeners are taken on an earnest journey through Indian culture. With this album, Raveena intends to pay homage to her heritage as a first-generation descendant of genocide survivors and Reiki healers. The album stays true to Raveena’s unique sound we have grown to love, blending influences from Bollywood and celebrated Indian artists like R.D. Burman and Asha Bhosle with Western music—specifically R&B, rock and soul— to create one cohesive body of work.

‘Asha’s Awakening’ takes us on the fascinating story of a space princess from ancient Punjab who journeys across centuries learning about love and loss, healing and destruction. The album’s lead single ‘Rush’ (which we included in our top songs of January), first introduced us to this concept.

As if the album’s announcement wasn’t exciting enough, Raveena also released the record’s second single ‘Secret’ (feat. Vince Staples). The track keeps Raveena’s Bollywood influences alive whilst injecting the infatuating components of noughties pop. Following up from the otherworldly visuals of ‘Rush’, Raveena directed the visuals for ‘Secret’, giving us a further glimpse into the immense world of Asha. Raveena rocks many looks for her video, from gorgeous traditional Indian jewellery to a sheer purple jumpsuit when performing a captivating aerial dance.

Speaking on the meaning of ‘Secret’, Raveena said;

“To me, ‘Secret’ is a song about love that traverses through different dimensions. People on Earth are starting to have sensual dreams ignited in them by a space princess – someone they feel like their body knows, but whom they also do not know and cannot reach in this dimension. What if your lover was enticing you from space and you couldn’t reach them in this realm? What if a spirit from an outer dimension ignited your sacral chakra? This is what ‘Secret’ explores.”

You can fully immerse yourself in Asha’s journey on the 11th of February, when ‘Asha’s Awakening’ will be available to buy and stream across all platforms.

Words By Nadia Clasper

_{Photo Credit: Raveena_Aurora Instagram}

The post Raveena Takes Us On A Journey Through Indian Culture With New Album ‘Asha’s Awakening’ appeared first on Voir Fashion.

“This abuse has found a home on the internet. We have seen right-wing extremists call for the shooting of farmers, for the genocide of Sikhs“

Neelam Kaur Gill

It’s now coming into the sixth month of a long and painful battle between the farmers of India and their government, after new agriculture laws, that seem to favour large corporations at the detriment of the small farmer’s livelihood, were unveiled back in August, sparking outrage and protest from the people affected.

The farmers fear the three new laws will leave them vulnerable to exploitation and will devastate their earnings, as the laws were introduced to incentivise private participation through deregulation of production, movement and sale – something that threatens the small and medium-scale farmers businesses and livelihoods with the possibility of manipulation and unfair prices. This is another blow to the people of India’s largest employer, as the climate crisis has already taken a large toll on the agricultural sector, and with no chance for open discussion on a topic that would impact hundreds of thousands of Indians, these farmers took to protest.

For months now, through cold and struggle, farmers have been protesting to get these laws repealed, taking to mass demonstrations, highway camping and other peaceful methods to get their points across. A lot of these protests have been spearheaded by the women of the farming industry, as the majority of working women in India are employed by agriculture, and a women farmers’ day was declared amongst the protests to commemorate this statistic.

The protests turned violent towards the end of January when a storm of Delhi’s Red Fort ended in the death of a protester and the detainment of over 200 more. Some peaceful demonstrations have been met with brutal force too, with images of police brutality and suppression from the authorities circling social media, causing Humanitarian Aid Organisations such as Khalsa Aid to appeal for discipline and adherence to be maintained by the government.

The Indian government continued to inhibit peaceful protestors this past weekend  by blocking mobile internet services around the New Delhi area, preventing protestors from communicating and gathering during a hunger strike, organised to resume more peaceful demonstrations. This internet shutdown was criticised all over international social media, sparking statements and solidarity for protestors from the likes of Rihanna, Greta Thunberg and Meena Harris.

Such tweets were met with a mix of comments for and against the protests, some going as far as threats against these supporters, something sadly becoming a common and relentless occurrence surrounding the events, as particularly women in the South Asian diaspora have received online abuse for supporting the protests. Fashion model Neelam Kaur Gill was one of the women targeted, speaking up about it in a recent statement posted to social media:

“This abuse has found a home on the internet. We have seen right-wing extremists call for the shooting of farmers, for the genocide of Sikhs. And, many women including myself have received relentless abuse online including sexual harassment, intimidation and death threats.”

But the supportive voices continue, as South Asian and Sikh communities all over the world along with allies to the cause have protested and defended out of solidarity for the farmers protesting.

What You Can Do To Help

Like Neelam Kaur Gill said in her statement, “Each like, comment and share has amplified the voice of farmers and labourers into the halls of power – media, parliaments and beyond.” Using any platform you have to share the stories and events of the last 5 months and the movement’s continuation will raise awareness for the matter and help to get these farmers’ needs met.

Change.org have a petition to get the law revoked, that only requires a signature, or if you want to donate, the following organisations are supporting Indian farmers.

Fundraiser for medical facilities, created by https://unitedsikhmission.org/

saveindianfarmers.org runs several projects to aid Indian farmers inside and outside of this movement, providing support with everything from rural education to water conservation.

Khalsa Aid are supporting the protests on the ground, working closely with the organisers.They aren’t currently requesting funds but are continuing to support and share their work, and will share any projects when approached.

Words by Daisy Greetham

The post Indian Farmers Protest: Everything You Need To Know And How To Help appeared first on Voir Fashion.

Indian Matchmaking is the trending Netflix show which offers a unique insight into the world of dating in South Asian culture.

The show centres around Sima Taparia, who claims to be the top matchmaker in Mumbai. Her statement that“in India, the marriages are between two families” sums up the complexities around match weddings which centre around family politics.

Indian Matchmaking brings much needed South Asian representation into the mainstream, opening eyes to the tight family bonds and parent-child dynamics which help shape Indian society. The professional approach to dating is an extreme version of Tinder, matching elaborate profiles based on individual preferences.

Indian Matchmaking | Official Trailer | Netflix

Although Taparia highlights how “in India nowadays, the boy or girl can refuse to get married, they have full freedom”, she fails to recognise the oppressive beauty standards which extremely limit the prospects of those women who don’t conform.

As we follow Taparia’s journey with various clients, certain toxic patterns in bias emerge. She openly highlights the slimmer, whiter women as easier to match. In more blatant moments she deemed those who were curvier as “unphotogenic” and “unhealthy”.

Aparna Shewakramani, one of Taparia’s clients, is a career-driven woman looking for a husband who can keep up with her ambition. Though she states that “I’m willing to make so many compromises”, Taparia labels her as ‘stubborn’ and ‘picky’ after she rules out someone without a clear career path. “She will not get a life partner if she is this negative.”, she goes as far as to question her sanity, “Her mind is not stable.”

Taparia’s message that women need to be ‘flexible’ in nature yet conform to rigid beauty standards has proven triggering for women who have felt pressured to conform to these ideals. Kulfi Beauty Founder Priyanka Ganjoo is no stranger to these pressures. Ganjoo founded Kulfi to carve out space for Gen Z South Asians in the beauty market, who are fighting against long-standing and deep-seated beauty ideals.

Ganjoo detailed how Indian Matchmaking perpetuates the harmful pressures on South Asian women in Allure earlier this week, “instead of challenging these standards, the show reinforces them. It held up a mirror to the fact we that we still have a lot of problematic things going on.”

Speaking on her own experience with such expectations Ganjoo highlighted the pressure to conform to a slim, light-skinned model. “We browsed magazines with Fair and Lovely ads, now called Glow and Lovely, promising to lighten and brighten our complexions. We saw our moms and aunties buy into the $432M skin-lightening market. We saw that year after year, all of the Miss India contestants had the same medium-light tone.”

For Ganjoo Indian Matchmaking has reignited her plight for change. Now, more than ever she sees the need for a brand that serves South Asian women seeking to break free of damaging beauty expectations.

“When matchmaker Taparia flagged all of the whiter, slimmer, richer and obedient women as easy to match, I felt the overwhelming need to scream “ENOUGH! This! Ends! Now!” After the initial sting of old scars and insecurities faded, I was reinvigorated to take on Kufli’s mission like never before.”

– Ganjoo to Allure

Ganjoo is unwilling to compromise when it comes to liberating South Asian women from outdated expectations. Ganjoo is committed to succeeding with Kulfi Beauty where Indian Matchmaking failed, by helping South Asians reclaim their beauty outside of these expectations.

Words By Ella Calland

The post How Netflix’s Indian Matchmaking Perpetuates Toxic Beauty Standards appeared first on Voir Fashion.