"All of them are inspired pieces."
New York Fashion Week 2022 included an innovative initiative to highlight, recognise, and appreciate South Asian fashion designers through a stand-alone platform.
Held from September 8 to 14, at venues all over Manhattan, the South Asian New York Fashion Week (SANYFW) took over the city’s fashion scene with some noteworthy names in international couture.
These names included Nomi Ansari and Mayyur Girotra, as well as some established and well-known designers.
Almost a decade in the making, SANYFW is the brainchild of fashion entrepreneur Shipra Sharma, who after partnering with Hetal Patel, made it her mission to showcase South Asian fashion inspired by South Asian attire and culture.
According to founder and CEO Sharma, SANYFW aims to “highlight and share the history of our fashion and culture, while celebrating the fashion pioneers who have been trailblazers for our community universally.”
Co-founder and COO Hetal Patel added: “Never before has New York City seen South Asian culture come alive during New York Fashion Week the way we plan to showcase it.
“With an expected high projected audience and increased participation from leading pioneers of the South Asian fashion industry, SANYFW promises to be the must-attend week for fashionistas this fall.”
During the week-long experience, hosted at quintessential NYC venues, influencers, celebrities, icons, and enthusiasts of South Asian design, fashion, and culture had access to runway shows.
The shows were categorised by streetwear, sustainability, menswear, traditional, bridal, and Indo-Western styles.
Established designers who showcased their collections during SANYFW include Ishan Sanghvi, Margi Sutaria, Reena Mathur and Deepti Mandhava.
Sezan Khan, Vinod Muralidhar and Harika and Anusha Sabbineni are among the emerging names in South Asian fashion.
Amongst them is Mayyur Girotra who opened South Asian New York Fashion Week with his collection, Zamani which is an exploration of traditional Indian textiles and craft techniques.
The palette that Girotra explored was a monochromatic one, made rich with the colours and crafts of India.
The neutral canvas allowed him to express the extravagance of each look.
In conversation with Lifestyle Asia, Mayyur Girotra said: “Every piece that I create has a distinctive aesthetic, I try to evaluate what people around me would want to wear.
“Along with that, my sense of style and sensibility is present in all of my outfits which makes the couture a winning combination of fashion with functionality.
“It is very difficult to pinpoint any particular outfit as my favourite. All of them are inspired pieces and have traces of old-world charm.
“Every piece is stunning and a show-stopper.”
In addition to the shows, South Asian New York Fashion Week also created a marketplace of vendors plus an interactive collaboration with the app Aina that helps shoppers virtually try on clothing to see how it fits their body sizes.
The high-energy week culminated with a health and wellness pop-up, which included yoga activities and Ayurvedic learning.
South Asian New York Fashion Week’s official tech partner, Nate, is billed as the first solution to bring the hottest looks from the runway directly to the consumer, in real-time.
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