Indian Fashion Designer breaking the Beauty Myth

Beauty pageants and fashion industries all over the world have set up certain measures of creating the notion of ‘beautiful women’. These beauty norms consider tall, thin and fair girls as the most beautiful and perfect to participate in pageants and fashion shows. Through the worldwide broadcast of these beauty events have spread the beauty norms internationally. While talking about India, people are here obsessed with body image and weight. International beauty brands encourage Indian women to participate in the race to meet the so called ‘Standard idea of beauty’. These create a myth about the idea of beauty with certain specific qualities. As a consequence, discrimination and alienation are prevailed among Indian women on the basis of these beauty norms which led them to various physical and mental weaknesses.

The fashion industry is more discriminating regarding the skin color of models. In an overtly obsessed industry with lighter skin tone some fashion designers decides to go with an altogether different phenomena. They feature dark skin model and celebrate the spirit of beauty in every shape color and size. Ayush Kejriwal, one of such designer, has said that beauty is confidence and confidence brings happiness. One cannot be beautiful without being happy. In India everybody wants a lighter skin tone. People also go to guess someone’s socio-economic background from the skin tone. Having a lighter skin tone means someone is from a good and rich background. Designer Ayush challenged this norm of the beauty by featuring darker skinned model which also makes a difference into the market. The markets were selling the craze of Indians with the skin tone, body image and size. The designer also goes beyond the cultural norms and religious customs relating to the white dress of widow. He posted a picture of wearing colorful dresses with full makeup with the caption ‘Colorful Widows’, which have reached a height of popularity on social media with appreciations and criticisms at different level. Kejriwal also believes that Indian traditional attire is not tied with any specific religion. And by believing this he goes on to experiment with Hijab incorporating it with Saris. Through which he tries to deliver a strong message of integrity, tolerance and secular belief prevails in India.