Thanks to publications and magazines, we are up to date about the fashion biz and activities in the tinsel towns. It also gives us a peek into the inspiring stories of entrepreneurs and designers who made it big after facing a lot of challenges. One such story featured in Elle India’s issue caught the attention of fashion journalist, editor and Director of Communications at House of Angadi, Varun Rana.
The article introduced the jewellery designer with alma mater and then by the celebrities like Katy Perry, Nicki Minaj and Deepika Padukone, who flaunted her exquisite pieces. Without taking a jibe or dig at the magazine, Varun put forth his strong point hinting at the ‘problematic introduction.’ “Covering a designer should never begin with where they have studied or whom they have dressed. This creates a narrative that in order to be successful one has to study from certain fashion schools and dress celebrities.” He mentioned the fact that he had to convince his parents to take a hefty loan to send him to NIFT and it would have been easy for him to look down upon the students from other educational institutions back in the day. “Talent can come from anywhere and is not restricted to how much one is able to pay as college fee. So, introducing designers by their school: No. About celebs dressed: a BIG no. As a fashion publication, it falls on the editors to talk about the WORK of the interview’s subject- NOT the outcome of their work”
He also pointed out the sequencing of the celebrities mentioned in the article. “Mentioning designer’s celeb clients as a part of the coverage is totally acceptable as long as it doesn’t feed into the outmoded fantasy of foreign-is-better. Deepika cannot be an afterthought following Katy and Nicki.” He concluded his post urging the publication and writers to reassess their methods of writing. “This thread is not an attack, but an invitation to all fashion writers and editors to reassess how they write about fashion and the people who work in it.”
Fashion’s vigilante Diet Sabya also took it to its Instagram story to open a discussion on Varun’s points. While some supported the designers, others asked him to look at the article in another way. Amidst all of this, the subject of the interview, Nitya put forth her points on the discussion table shared by DS.
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“I worked hard (not because of financial benefits) to get into Parsons and to graduate, I worked just as hard to ensure my brand was worn by celebrities.” She concluded her response by saying, “Besides for an Indian designer to be adorning international stars is not easy and it took a lot of hard work to get there.”
While Elle is yet to comment on this, what are your thoughts on the same?
(Source- Instagram)
