Indian content creators make Runway debuts at New York Fashion Week

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Heralding a massive coup for the homegrown content creator community, celebrated Indian couturier Archana Kochhar has roped in leading social media influencers of Indian origin as showstoppers for her fashion outings at New York Fashion Week and London Fashion Week. Her New York Fashion Week showcase was hosted in association with The Society at Hall Of Mirrors on September 11.

Delhi-based husband-wife duo, Gaurav Taneja and Ritu Rathee Taneja, of Flying Beast fame, were joined by Mumbai-based lifestyle influencer Aashna Hedge to walk the runway at New York Fashion Week, while Mumbai-based entertainment influencer Nagma Mirajkar will walk the runway at London Fashion Week, setting the stage for increased representation of Indian influencer presenters at global platforms.

This creative confluence marked the debut of these Indian social media stars at international fashion weeks, also marking the very first time that they are being integrated on the main runway in the history of New York Fashion Week and London Fashion Week.

Other American social media influencers show-stopping at New York Fashion Week include Tik-Tok’s favourite ‘it’ girl Mckenzi Brooke and actor-musician teen sensation Gavin Magnus, who will be walking for one of the world’s youngest self-made multi-millionaires and child reality TV star, Isabella Barrett.

Kochhar’s London Fashion Week will be conducted in association with the British Fashion Council and Vivz World Fashion Week on Sep. 17 in London.

Kochhar, who had roped in film actress Sunny Leone and acid attack survivor Reshma Qureshi for her first-ever New York Fashion Week showing, is the only fashion designer to be handpicked from India to support the Make In India campaign (which was launched by Shri Narendra Modi, the Prime Minister of India, in 2014) at both of these reputed fashion weeks this year.

Gaurav Taneja and Ritu Rathee Taneja of Flying Beast stated, “We are extremely excited to make our international inaugural fashion innings at New York Fashion Week as the first content creator couple from India. It is an honor to be handpicked from the Indian content creator community to represent India on the world stage. It is so heartwarming to see such great reception, and this association truly showcases the advent of the content creator community in recent times. We hope our participation in his runway will open up many more avenues for the influencer community of India.”

Aashna Hegde states, “New York Fashion Week is the most iconic event of the fashion world and this feels like a ‘dream come true’ moment for me! I have been an ardent fashion enthusiast and have always wanted to bring to the fore my experimental fashion persona on the global stage. It’s such an honor to represent the Indian fashion community on such a global stage and help leverage the cause of sustainability.”

Kochhar added, “I’m very excited as this is my fourth showing at New York Fashion Week and my first-ever showing at London Fashion Week. In today’s technology-driven era, social media influencers pose as powerful thought leaders in the world of entertainment and fashion. Their equation with the community at large is highly nuanced and hence, just like actors, musicians and sports stars, they too enjoy a massive fan following as role-models. Each of these content creators will promote and propel the cause of ‘vocal for local’ on a world stage for the very first time.”

Her New York Fashion Week collection, Jharokha, highlights the importance of sustainability in fashion. A marriage between traditional handloom fabrics and inimitable Western silhouettes, the showcase boasted of a burst of colors and abstract designs. The collection primarily focused on handmade locally-grown textiles with a low carbon footprint, curated by women weavers from the interiors of the state of Madhya Pradesh.