When an entrepreneur steps into the market they are told to define their market. As a South Asian American entrepreneur, however, you are told that your market space is, and can be, only other South Asians. From the world of finance to law to public relations, all the way to the world of fashion. It is an unfair assumption that you serve only the South Asian market and it is demeaning to imply that it is the only market that you can be valued in. Perhaps it is this way for all minority groups?
We decided to break that mold, step out of our comfort zones, and demand that the market be an open playing field for everyone. With that in mind we developed this season’s cover: a half Russian model with Sufi parents, a jewelry designer from Brooklyn with a penchant for off-beat art, a make up artist whose talent recently arrived in the U.S., and a team of fashion designers that are half white and half South Asian.
This issue is about an amalgamation of fashion, entrepreneurship and a fierce desire to harness your destiny.
In Cuffs: Jason Rylander’s Creations
When we first met Jason Rylander, the designer of the brilliantly off-beat cuffs on the cover, we would never have pegged him as a jewelry designer. A lawyer by profession, when he got into the field of art we assumed that he would make in-the-box style artwork that would be part of the tight-lipped legal culture. But when Jason showed us his intricate cuffs made by using gummy bears, we couldn’t wait to photograph them. We wanted to show the world that it was okay to step out your comfort zone, to throw on well made off-beat jewelry in a sophisticated manner. His cuffs weren’t for a small demographic, they are made to be worn by fiercest fashionistas of today – both in a meeting and out at night.
Warrior Women: Eva Khurshid Makes Sexy a Statement
Being a fan of the Eva Khurshid designs, I found it disconcerting when I would be at an event with the two fabulous women behind the design and someone would say to them, “Oh you are designers? So you design desi clothes?” Or, “Oh your half white, so your parents must be okay with this.” First and foremost, it was a bit offensive that simply because you happen to be South Asian, you can only design desi clothes. Or that simply because you are white, your parents would openly welcome a creative field as your chosen career path. And to top it off, my favorite comment about Eva Khurshid is, “Well, they are women so it’s okay to have a fashion hobby.” At this comment, I often wanted to laugh and say: “Fashion is not a hobby for women that conceptualize and construct the very garment that helps a woman outwardly define her personality and make a statement.”
When we came up with the concept for this issue we kept thinking about a warrior woman: those that are more than what they “supposed” to be, those that step out of society’s comfort zone and make it clear that they will succeed on their own terms. To us, the Eva Khurshid line emboldens women through their cuts, their subtle and thoughtful designs, fit for all body types, ethnicities and markets. And we were ecstatic when the garments fell beautifully on our cover model Isabella David.
So here’s a toast to the amalgamation of fashion – designing our careers, our looks, our styles and our futures as a statement of who we are and what we do, without adhering to stereotypes of what we are “supposed” to cater to and we are “supposed” to be.
– Benish A. Shah, Editor-in-Chief
Photo credits: Jewelry by Jason Rylander at BrooklynJar.com; Apparel by Eva Khurshid; Model: Isabella David; Make up & Hair: Kuma; Photography by Benish A. Shah
