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entitled ENTITLED.COM | NEW DEHI | THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2017 | PAGES 6

Freedom of Speech like no other

ARE WE STILL FACING AN IDENTITY CRISIS?

FASHION ON A CLEANSING SPREE ?

ESSENTIAL OR REDUNDANT?

IS FASHION IN THE RIGHT HANDS?

BREAKING STEREOTYPES

BIAS ON SUSTAINABILITY

‘FIRST DAY OF PERIOD’ LEAVE

THE AGE OF BLOGGERS

Brands and designers alike each doing their bit to make the earth a better place by incorporating sustainability into their collections. Ethical Indian brand, BIAS gives us their take on fashion’s new direction...

After a number of offices in Kerala and Mumbai have given women period leave, a debate on the topic was waiting to happen.

We get the outcome after conducting a survey and having one on one conversations with a few...

In a world where everyone if trying to fit in, the real rock stars are the ones standing out. Want proof? Read our interviews with an Emmy Award winner and two highly successful entrepreneurs...

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They are the new era of influencers. Fashion Bloggers are on high demand in the fashion world. What we want to know, is if they really are the fashion connoisseurs they claim to be. Fellow blogger Dolly Singh, answers our questions...

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CAN WE LIVE AND LET LIVE?

U N T A GG E D

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THIS ONE IS FOR THE SHEER ACCEPTANCE OF HUMANITY.

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Photographed by Priyam Lodha

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2017 | entitled

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BIASed to Deviation

Going green is slowly becoming the new chic. Eco friendly brand, BIAS, gives us it’s take on fashion’s new direction.

By Shaunessa Nongrum

We don’t live under a rock. You and I know that the Earth is getting more polluted every passing day. After being dubbed as ‘the second most polluted industry’, fashion undoubtedly needs to up it’s ‘Let’s save the planet!’ game.

That’s where sustainable fashion walks in. It is a part of the growing design philosophy and trend of sustainability, the goal of which is to create a system which can be supported indefinitely in terms of human impact on the environment and social responsibility.

Textile industries have also begun using experimental surfaces from nature with the invention of organic fabrics made out of milk, banana, lotus, soya bean, corn, eucalyptus and the like.

With that in mind, many designers and brands, whether fast fashion or haute couture, have begun incorporating sustainability in their clothing. Perhaps the most prominent of all is Stella McCartney, who was one of the first in the fashion business to embrace a sustainable attitude in her collections.

That being said, some cool Indian brands have made colourful, vibrant clothing that just happen to be fashionable as well as sustainable. Below, discover a brand that has been on our radar for quite a while:

People have become aware that going ‘eco’ does indeed make a difference.

BIAS Photographed by Nandini Munjal

Origin, Ideologies and Thoughts Growing up as introverted beings, BIAS founders,Mridu Mehra and Shruti Bhardwaj, felt fashion has been a tool of expression of any kind - revolt, sexuality, rebellion, deviation, acceptance, etc. Fashion has the power to bring in social and lifestyle change and is a lot more than being defined under the category of vanity & extravagance.

With these thoughts in mind, BIAS was born towards the end of 2014, with a simple idea - to make individualistic clothes that are unrestricted, versatile and comfortable.

In the beginning, BIAS was more of an experiment, under which garments were created based on personal choices.

“Both Shruti and I barely shop for clothes and manage wearing one piece of garment in many ways, incidentally our designs also starting shaping up as garments that one could wear throughout the year, by wearing/styling differently and layering,” Mridu says. “That is how we had the idea to promote timeless, sustainable wardrobe solutions. Because less is more and conscious buying choices are essential.”

Photographed by Nandini Munjal

Design

With their love for homegrown fabrics and crafts, Mridu and Shruti make clothes that one can live in from morning to night.

Gaining recognition as indie eco conscious, Mridu and Shruti find it difficult to define BIAS under one label.

“We implement ideas based on our intuition or inner voice, rather than following what's trending,” they say.

BIAS loves using hand-crafted techniques in its garments, as they need patience and add a human element to every piece, making clothes immortal and meaningful.

For its retail collections also handmade techniques of some sort as employed, no matter how minimal, it personalizes the garment and makes it more special.

In less than a year of starting the label and working inside the industry, Mridu and Shruti experienced the downside of fashion, its operations and textile industry, which is a significant contributor to many national economies, but is also one of the largest waste producing industry. The textile and garment manufacturing process require high consumption of resources like water, fuel and a variety of chemicals that generate a significant amount of waste. Fluctuating variation in demand of patterns and colour combination of fabric results in extensive wastage of resources and a severe damage to the environment.

Running a label is definitely more than designing clothes and selling them. Mridu and Shruti feel it is also their social responsibility to the environment.

“We never had the desire to be one of the many labels selling fast fashion by making inexpensive clothes in masses, for the masses (something that is conventional or something that they have seen someone famous approve),” they say. BIAS has been about individuality ever since it was started.

The label’s designs are very personal and are loved and understood by a niche, intelligent audience and people who care.

The dynamic fashion world is full of competitive, hardworking, headstrong individuals. This industry involves people/creative from varied fields, it opens up avenues and generates income for tailors, craftsmen, artisans etc, along with photographers, models, editors, graphic designers etc. Needless to say the fashion & textile industries are one of the largest industries in the world.

However due to consumerism, through the years, the true essence of design has diminished and lost its depth amidst the growing stigmas attached to it and Mridu and Shruti very much want to work towards changing that.

“For us, God is in the details, minimal and functional mostly,” says Shruti.

BIAS makes relaxed clothes with a lot of room for breathing. Clothes are not restricted to sizes and gender, that is the label’s general idea while designing.

Mridu and Shruti believe in zero waste design and avoid wastage of any kind. For its first runway collection SS17 (showcased at AIFW), BIAS skipped unnecessary processes of dyeing it’s main fabric - cotton gauze, which helped save a lot of water, as dyeing involves chemicals and unbelievable amounts of water.

BIAS has slowly evolved into breaking stereotypes in fashion & challenging norms, with a special focus on being a sustainable label. Mridu and Shruti want to change the way it is perceived by the masses because clothing is an essential. “Our energy is translated in our designs, which are an expression and extension of ourselves.”

“Combining opposite elements of design is also something we find deep joy in, no matter how simple and honest it is,” they say. “Monochrome is our favorite palette to work with.”

BIAS continues to create visceral garments that create mystery, where function, comfort and versatility of each piece plays a significant role to create a raw and relaxed mood.

Behind the scene/Machine

Photographed by Nandini Munjal

THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2017 | entitled

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AN AGE OF GLAMOUR Inspired by a set of well known style personalities, we had four ladies put together some fabulous outfit ensembles.

By Priyam Lodha

Fashion over the years has evolved into much more than just a vision to look good in what one wears. It now has become a part of an individual itself giving him or her a sparkling blend of confidence and strength. This has been made possible by a set of stylish, simple, sophisticated, crazy fashion icons who by their unique blend of power, inpiration and timeless chic have continued to rule the hearts of people in different times.

VIVIENNE WESTWOOD

The secret of great style is to feel good in what you wear.

”

KURT COBAIN

RIHANNA

FRIDA KAHLO

Photographed by Priyam Lodha

Photographed by Priyam Lodha

Frida Kahlo was a piece of art in herself. She painted herself not only on paper but in real life as well. Tthat’s what inspired Navya, a fashion styling student to use her style creatively. Navya considers herself as a canvas, which she paints everyday with her imagination and decided to recreate the look of her favourite fashion icon. She chose to wear vibrant colours, which included an eye popping turquoise statement neckpiece on a yellow dress along with white tassel earrings.

The highlight of her style is the white floral headband along with some pink flowers adding a lively look.

S

Photographed by Priyam Lodha

Crazy. Rebellious. Fun. These few words come to mind when someone mentions Vivienne Westwood. Considered as the ‘Princess of Punk’, the fashion designer pretty much gave a new side to fashion.

Shaunessa, can’t help herself from in following in Ms Westwood’s defiant footsteps.

A lover of punk herself, Shaunessa got out her fishnet stockings and her combat boots.

She threw on a plaid, sleeveless shirt with a bralette underneath. A signature double buckled belt gave her plain, black shorts an edgy touch and her choker just happens to be the exact replica of the belt, mind you.

Shaunessa’s makeup deserves its own story; her eyebrows have been shaded brick red and a contrasting pink eye shadow on her lids. Her lips have the brightest and darkest shade of the purple pantone (Half lipped-lipstick is a thing, thank you very much). She also wears a single safety pin on her left ear. Now, if that isn’t Vivienne Westwood/punk inspired fashion, I don’t know what is!

P

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By Nandini Munjal

“Some of us have it really hard...So we thought, if our channel could talk about bold female issues, why can’t we walk the talk and do something about this basic issue?” - Devleena S Majumder, President of Culture Machine” In a country where menstruation is wrapped in black polythene, digital media company, Culture Machine initiated monthly leave for women employees for the ‘first day of period’. What came next was bound to happen, the subject was followed with debates, multiple opinions and complications.

Countries like Italy, Indonesia, Japan and South Korea are a part of menstruation leave policy. Do you think India, a country still struggling with this taboo should follow them? Where some can’t digest the fact that urban women want leave in the name of feminism while, others don’t understand the criticism on the leave policy.

“He broke the social conventions and the style rock bands were following, he unknowingly created a style that would be an inspiration for the coming generations”, says Nandini , an ardent fan of Kurt Cobain’s style and ideologies. The king of grunge not only gave us his soulful words and music, which are forever inscribed in the history of rock music, but also a style that came to be known as grunge-style. The flannel shirts, ripped jeans, band tees, layering, oversized clothes, and his effortless style also inspired fashion luminaries like Edi Slimane, Marc Jacobs, Raf Simons. Taking inspiration from Kurt Cobain’s style Nandini layered a black t-shirt with an oversized denim shirt and an artwork stating “God is Gay” at the back of her shirt. Kurt Cobain felt strongly about gay rights, sexism, and racism and was vocal about these topics and had also painted “God is Gay” on a building in support of the community. He often made a statement by wearing gender fluid clothes as well.

We live in a country where in rural areas, the girls leave school and sit at home, as soon as they start mentruating. With a majority of the population having such a mindset, it leads to depriving girls from their education.

Is granting leave to the women in urban areas, an insult to the ones fighting every day for the rights of the rural girls?

To understand the thought process of the public, a survey was conducted in which, when asked the if the majority of people think that women needing a leave in the name of ‘first day of period’ is justifiable.

For Washington post Barkha Dutt wrote : “Sure, our periods can be annoyingly uncomfortable and often painful, but this reality usually demands no more than a Tylenol or Meftal and, if needed, a hot-water bottle.” When asked about the opinions of the respondents on the same, majority of them agreed with the saying.

T

E

Photographed by Priyam Lodha

Riddhima, a communication designer had been truly inspired by what Rihanna had said once “When I am putting looks together, I dare myself to make something work. I always look for the most interesting silhouette or something that’s a little off, but I have to figure it out. I have to make it me. I think that’s the thrill in fashion.” This is the ideology Riddhima tries to follow while styling herself. She admires Rihanna’s fierce and daring fashion choices and her street style looks. She believes that like Riri, everyone should have their own inviduality and uniqueness and that should translate in their style. Riddhima goes on to explain her outfit, “I’m wearing a casual grey crop top with a denim jacket and loose three fourth denim bottoms paired with block heels, oversized yellow glasses, and hoop earings.”

D

...leave, not a holiday

Just like women’s clothing, women’s issues have got layers too. No two women’s menstrual cycle is same, no two women PMS the same and no two women go through the same discomfort. When such vast experiences happen no two women are bound to have same opinions about the idea of a medical leave for the same. The leave policy is a way of the authority saying that they may not understand the pain but they surely acknowledge it.

Arshita Aggarwal, a student of Pearl Academy, was a part of the survey, who being part of the minority which believes women need no such leave explains, “There are women out on the field playing badminton for the country, or handling a firm, or have a death row order in Supreme Court, or is an international swimmer. They are all out there, asking for no leaves”, she further argues that aren’t people making periods a bigger issue and making women feel weak by asking for leaves.

Where some think that the whole idea is about acknowledging the pain and the uneasiness, which comes along in a woman’s monthly life cycle for the majority of the time in her life, the others think it’s demeaning and weakening for women. People need to realize that biological processes don’t define your strength as a gender.

The whole idea started to make ‘period/ that time of month/ menstrual cycle’ less forbidden and more comfortable in the country.

Women will never take a leave from letting everyone know that even if their vaginas are bleeding four days a month, they won’t let themselves be treated as the weaker gender even if our choice of weapons are chocolates and hot water bottles.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2017 | entitled

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STEREOTYPES ARE MEANT TO BE BROKEN In a world where everyone is trying to fit, the real rock stars are those who are standing out.

By Priyam Lodha

Today, we face situations where everything is conditioned by social norms. What society says and thinks of us is deemed important. Whether it’s what we wear (Sorry guys. No pink t-shirts for you), what our career is(Being a musician is a job?

Really?), what we eat (Yes, you CANNOT eat pizza with a knife and fork!), we are judged for it; unless we abide by the ‘rules’ of course. Sad to say but, they are deeply embedded in our culture.

We spoke to three very accomplished ladies who broke the rules. Safe to say, their obstacles along the way have all been worth it.

SONAM SHEKHAWAT: THE EMMY AWARD WINNER When and how did you start working?

I was a 3D modeller, and I joined Reliance when I was 18 but I always wanted to write. However I couldn’t go to the studio and tell those guys that I’m a writer as they wouldn’t have accepted me. Nobody noticed me so I somehow manage to reach out to the people in the corporate and tell them about the content I’ve written, the projects I had done, the movies I’d made in college and then showed them some content that I had written so they gave me chance to write the title song for a new show they were working on, Shaktiman animation series. I wrote the title song in 10 minutes and they decided to record it.

How did you get your first big break?

After recording the song for Shaktiman, everyone loved it and that’s how I got my first break. I wrote all the 26 stories of Shaktiman Animated Series. The first writer I’d worked with was Jeffery Scott, the writer of Spiderman, Dragon Tales and author of how to write for animation. After 2 years, I left Reliance and joined Green gold who were working on new shows like Mighty Raju, Chota Bheem who were yet to achieve fame. Chota Bheem was an instant hit, , kids went crazy about Chota Bheem and then I wrote a couple of movies for Chota Bheem and then I wrote Arjun , Luv Kushh and 3-4 animated series with Green Gold but then I had to leave Green Gold because I was getting married.

Can you name some of the shows that you’ve been a part of?

How did your life change when you’d moved to Los Angeles and joined Dreamworks?

So far I had the joy of working on some really popular series - Chhota Bheem, Mighty Raju, Chorr Police, Luv-Kushh, Shaktimaan Animated, Arjun, Bandbudh&Budbak, Kisna, Life Hacks For Kids, Edo, Little Garuda and so on. It was good fun working with different creative teams. But nobody seemed to follow my wonderful gibberish language, so I write in English & Hindi.

The first project that I got in Dreamworks was ‘Life hacks for kids’, for their YouTube channel. Initially I wrote 5 episodes and within 2 days it had reached 12 million hits. Then they decided to give me the responsibilty of producing the show and I produced 20 episodes. They then moved me to mainstream television and initially I was the script editor of ‘All Hail King Julien’ which was airing on Netfix and then I wrote for 6 episodes in the 3rd season and for that I won an Emmy Award.

Did you have an inclination towards writing since you were kid ?

My Childhood was all about watching cartoons - Teenage was spent on learning to make cartoons - Adult life so far went into creating cartoons. All the dreams, imaginary doodles, goofballistic thoughts get poured out of me in the form of stories, concept bibles, scripts, poems and songs for cartoons. They seem to be liked by many cool folks at DREAMWORKS.TV, NETFLIX, DISNEY, CN, POGO, NICK, ZQ and DISCOVERY KIDS Why did you get married at a young age?

I’d started working at a very young age so my dad thought “chalo let’s get her married, agar zyada successful ho gayi toh shaadi bhi nai hogi.” Also being a Rajput, girls get married at a really young age, so I got married at 23, had a baby when I was 24 because of the family pressure and I was really naïve at that time.

What happened after you got married? Did you have to compromise on your work at that time?

There was a lot of peer pressure initially and I couldn’t attend any of the International Film Festivals that I used to go every year. My life became really restricted during my first year of marriage, everything apparentely became unsafe for me, even my husband thought going to New York was too much. Although I never stopped writing for Chota Bheem, that was the only thing that kept me sane at that time, I still remember I’d just completed my script for Chota Bheem when I was pregnant ant I went into labor the next day.

How did you get out of the constraints society had imposed on you?

I never stopped writing, I just couldn’t. It’s really important that you never stop doing what you like otherwise you’re going to regret it all your life. I kept getting projects similar to Chota Bheem. People were offering me everything in the category “Chota” and at that time I felt my creativity wasn’t being explored. I thought I’d already done almost everything that I wanted to do in India and so I wanted to move out of India for a different exposure and my husband by that point was really supportive. Me, my husband and my kid , we shifted to Los Angeles and I’d joined Dreamworks Animation in 2015.

How did your life change after winning an Emmy Award?

I was at Mountain View promoting the 3rd season of All Hail King Julian and there I met a guy named Shikhar Agarwal and he said “Why don’t we start making good quality content for Indian kids abroad, and then eventually in India as well.” I really liked the idea and I thought he wanted me to join as a writer but then he told me he wanted me join as a Co-founder and that’s when I thought it was the right time do to something on my own and I decided to leave Dreamworks, and start my own company named ‘Gulukul’ producing high quality content for Indians and we’ve already launched one book and are in the process of launching four more books on Diwali. The company is doing really well, it has sold million copies.

Did you feel biased as a women?

All the time. I feel like here in India people think that if you’re a woman you don’t know anything about technology and nobody takes you seriously, there are taboos in the society that we’re expected to follow even today. I’ll give you an example of this I was interviewing somebody for a position in my dad’s office and the guy told me “Madam, please sir ko bula do”, and my reaction to that was I’m the boss here and I’m going to take a decision, let me tell you his expression was priceless.

What are your future plans with your venture and what are you going to recommend working women like yourself to stay motivated?

I’ve tried to create content which inspires an entire generation, become a part of their dreams and growing up. The sad part is that Indians haven’t been exposed to high quality Indian content and that’s why they prefer Hollywood. Also Indians who are living outside don’t feel confident about their identity and they are made fun of their colour because there aren’t a lot of protagonists who are brown. So my motive is to make high quality content for Indians so that they feel good about themselves and they have protagonists to look up to. Throughout this what kept me going was the faith I had in myself, I never gave up, I kept trying and grabbed each and every opportunity that came in my way be it small or big.

KRAFTED WITH HAPPINESS : THE ENTREPRENEUR We live in a time where the society has still drawn borderlines of expectations of moving down the conventional roads of both life and career. Even they faced similar situations with their families wanting them to pursue what a society dictates and passes off as a “suitable” career. Nevertheless they persevered and eventually were successful in changing their minds who now support, encourage and even assist them to take their passion to higher levels.

Krafted with Happiness was the brainchild of two young second year architecture students, Anushri Shringi and Parul Taneja, that was the result of their thirst for creativity. What started as some pocket money fun proved to be a kick-start of a successful venture. They

now have a dedicated team of 50 men and women, many of who are housewives during the day and craftsmen by evening. The aim of their project is quite simple and that is lending color to the mundane regular lives through awesome affordable products and help their beautiful craftsmen to grow with them.

Source - Krafted with Happiness

started off with some jewellery and art pieces, gave a chair a makeover to brighten the world around them. It was the experimentation that gave life to a Facebook page which by the time they had finished college had a following of over 4,000 people. Working on this full time was the next obvious thing to do. With their office in Faridabad, they

lucky ones to have been surrounded by a lot of positive people who let them fly with their dreams.

In their own true words, “Work hard enough and you can end up defining the culture.”

They even had to face a lot of difficulties with others trying to ape their ideas and pass them as their own. Also, their age made the vendors and craftsmen they dealt with not take them seriously in the first meeting. Gaining their trust was one of the key highlights of their success. As they correctly point out, “Failure is the bedrock of success so get up every time you fall.”

As women in a gender biased country like ours they were the one of the few

Source - Krafted with Happiness

THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2017 | entitled

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Gender fluidity is about comfort, which comes naturally. It is not a hip word millennials can overuse and throw away.

” Photographed by Priyam Lodha

N O J U D GM E N T S N O S U R M I S E S J U S T

A C C E P T A N C E ...CONTINUED FROM THE COVER PAGE

By Nandini Munjal

We live in a society where people still confuse sex with gender, and thus take an eternity to think about genders other than male or female. Today, Facebook offers more than 50 options for people to check from in terms of their gender.

Many still don’t feel like they belong in any. Why is it that after almost thirty thousand years, we still can’t stop seeing genders and just focus on people?

There is no better way of understanding the topic than talking to people who feel for the subject “I feel that humanity cannot be contained. What I am, what I do, is not in my control. It’s something that defines me as me. But did I choose all of that?No. I never got any option to even begin with. I don’t feel bad about it at all. Neither am I complaining. What I want to say is that I don’t like to be ‘tagged’,” says Surya, fashion student of Pearl Academy, who further explains “I do not like to be called names even if it is all meant to be optimistic. I feel there are thousands of variations to humanity that even humans haven’t discovered yet. We all know that even a brilliant and genius man uses ten percent of his brain. Then how can humans think that they know what gender is all about? Or how many genders are there?

I am Surya, the only person who has ever lived as Surya. I cannot be compared. I cannot be put in a box.

I do not belong to only one or all of the genders. I am me.

Surya is my gender and to know what that gender is all about, just know me.”

Cambridge dictionary defines gender fluidity as, ‘A person who wears the clothes and copies the behavior of the opposite sex.’ With population of more than seven billion, how can gender fluidity just be defined by what can be seen outside, it’s time to break the border, and go deep, however you identify yourself , express don’t imitate.

Gender fluidity is vast and deep like an ocean. Why do people make it shallow and narrow like a brook? Gender fluid people don’t feel confined by restrictive boundaries of clichéd expectations of women and men. Gagan, another fashion student from Pearl Academy, believes that gender fluidity is more than cross dressing; it’s a way to tell people how to discuss you and like many other genderqueer.

‘They’ is the preferred pronoun to address such individuals, because ‘he’ or ‘she’ doesn’t address the grey area between the extremes.

Chimananda Ngozi Adichie, Nigerian writer says, “The problem with gender is that it prescribes how we should be

and not recognizing who we are.” Being gender fluid has nothing to do with which sets of genitalia one has, nor their sexual orientation, but society is so dependent on the system that it will do anything to fight for the cause, even if it gets them stuck in past. They need to understand that someone else’s femininity won’t decrease others masculinity.

Even in 2017, revolutionary changes in the fashion industry are tainted till they fade away like any other meaningless trend. The ‘it millennials’ have sidelined the crowd who belong in this industry to express themselves; the same industry which has been proven the safe home for the niche who thought, they don’t belong. Fashion, since decades has been their way of making presence felt, their way of fighting the society norms and their way of being comfortable with who they are.

Damini Deshwal, a fashion designer, was inspired by a Quora question, written by a boy, who asked if it would be okay for him to wear a saree. He furthered explained that his ‘ body is not so masculine’. Damini created her graduate collection with the idea of making garments that would celebrate a man’s body the way it is. The garments were for the inner soul that doesn’t have a gender; all the curiosities that have no border.

Our society’s mentality today, is one in which a girl is wearing tuxedo isn’t frowned upon, but a guy wearing skirt is apparently ‘too gay to handle’. Where did we go wrong?

Jaden Smith when asked about gender fluidity says “I never get a distinction, I don’t see men clothes and women clothes, I just see scared people and comfortable people.”

When all the beliefs of being and believing around gender is so chaotically interwoven, let the take away be that only you know who you were born to be. Let no one tell you otherwise or scar your path of being truly you.

This one is to fight for the day when gender fluidity is no longer a revolution, when gender fluid people are not considered outcast, when being YOU is not considered rebellious.

This one is for the sheer acceptance of humanity.

THURSDAY, AUGUST 31, 2017 | entitled

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ARE FASHION BLOGGERS LIVE MANNEQUINS? They’ve taken over the fashion world by storm but, how much do bloggers actually know about the industry?

By Shaunessa Nongrum

“

Brands do definitely treat us like mannequins, sending us some clothes and shoes in return of pictures is nothing but that. Most brands do not care about your ideas and concepts but the deliverables that you have been asked for. Sad but true!

”

Let’s face it. The fashion industry is no longer solely dependent on magazines or Hollywood/Bollywood icons.

Queue Fashion Bloggers.

The easiest way of describing a blogger is one primarily known for his/her website and social media. When they emerged not too long ago, it marked a huge turning point, in terms of democratising the fashion industry.

Fashion bloggers have a point of view, whether pictorial or written, and unlike models or celebrities, they are relatable and connect more with their audiences.

The successful bloggers are those who have managed to subtly use their sites as a form of marketing and advertisements. Brands send and pay them to wear their clothes, which they style in their own way. Bloggers who are really popular, even go on to launch their own eponymous labels including fashion lines and accessory collections.

Following their own international counterparts, Indian fashion bloggers are up on the rise as well. Take Kritika

Khurana(That BohoGirl), Aayushi Bangur(Style Drive) and Debarshree Banerjee(All She Needs!), to name a few. It would be a big surprise if we didn’t have at least one Indian blogger on our Instagram follow lists.

The million dollar question however, still remains: Do these style aficionados know everything there is to about the brands they promote?

Did Chiara Ferragni know the history behind those Gucci Marmont bags she’s always carrying? Is Camila Coelho aware about the true craftsmanship involved in her pleated Dior gown? Or did she simply just put it on because she was paid to? Fans of these influencers have their websites on their bookmarks bar; they believe they are the true experts of everything fashion and style. But, are they? Are they really?

We have been too busy checking out what label our favourite blogger has been loving lately that we have failed to notice how well versed he/she actually is about the true meaning to fashion.

Source - Spill the Sass

In an exclusive and refreshing interview, fellow blogger, Dolly Singh (Spill the Sass) gave us a little more perspective on the topic.

She began blogging in 2015 after having seen quite a number of blogs she could not relate to.

Her blog worked on a budget and she did a lot of ‘style this five ways’ series so as to eliminate the need to buy new clothes every time.

“My biggest inspiration has to be the lack of it actually, like I said, lack of relatable blogs. Content wise, I really look up to Rhea Gupte (Fuss)”.

DID YOU KNOW? •

The first fashion show was called ‘mannequin paradise’ organised by Lady Duff-Gordon in 1905.

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The Chanel 2.55 bag has an inner zipped compartment which was originally intended for Coco Chanel to hide her love letters.

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Charles Fredrick Worth, an Englishman, is the father of Haute Couture

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The first fashion magazine was published in 1678, in France (of course). It was called Le Mercure Galant and aimed at male readers.

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For all the hoopla made about Fashion Week, the average fashion show is only about 10 minutes long.

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The skirt is the second oldest piece of clothing, out-dated only by the loincloth.

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Barbie’s first outfit? A black-and-white striped one-piece swimsuit.

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Lacoste’s little embroidered crocodile was the first-ever designer logo.

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There was a period, when Christian Louboutin shoes were available with baby blue soles. These were related with an intention to enable “something blue” for brides-to-be but were very short-lived due to certain trademark issues.

According to Dolly, blogging is a way of documenting a part (or whole) of your life. She says one can talk about anything and everything. So, it essentially is just you writing and documenting your own ordeal with fashion.

Today ‘fashion blogging’ is a trend that every second girl or guy wants to become a part of. Everyone is a blogger, influencer, style icon; you name it! While Dolly condemns this new trend, she is overwhelmed by how commercial the entire affair has become. The art of blogging merely started out as a hobby to all its predecessors, but it has very well gone on to be a business. In a nutshell, bloggers are marketers, businessmen and salesmen all in one!

Dolly finds herself to be indifferent with regard to the business of bloggers, but she feels she cannot really complain; she firmly believes that it is a great career to have if one is really passionate about what one is doing.

It is, however, easier said than done. Despite the known fact that a great number of young girls are getting on board the ‘blogging train’ only the really good ones are able to make a name for themselves.

When asked about whether fashion was more than just a pretty face, Dolly said that it definitely is. “I can understand where this question is coming from. We have to realise, however, the pretty face will stop making a point after a while. Your words, you content, your techniques, they need to talk, whether it’s fashion or anything else.”

Most of us still wonder about how a few who had majored in law or commerce previously, have now gone on to become famous bloggers and ‘style experts’ with huge

follow bases.

Dolly concurs that being aesthetically appealing with ‘a pretty face’, as mentioned earlier, has helped a few of them, while others get so much recognition simply because their work deserves it.

Having a good follow count is vital in the world of blogging.

Brands will collaborate with a certain blogger, provided he/ she has a certain thousand numbers and a type of reach.

Dolly says that you stand nowhere if you do not have numbers. That being said, she adds that there are also a few exceptions (herself included)who do not care about the numbers. To her, the sheer joy of talking about fashion and a niche audience is quite enough. She further says that she would hate to reach a hundred thousand followers, “with girls telling me how cute I look.”

There was still one burning question that needed to be answered: Are fashion bloggers synonymous to live mannequins? “Brands do definitely treat us like mannequins,” Dolly says. “Sending us some clothes and shoes in return of pictures is nothing but that. Most brands do not care about your ideas and concepts but the deliverables that you have been asked for. Sad but true!”

When asked what the blogging world would need to improve in order to stay ahead and survive, Dolly informs us that fashion blogging has multiple facets; to club it all into one is a mistake. While some are in for it to make easy money, others blog for the utter fun of it. The only people who are sure to survive are first, those who treat blogging as a business. Second, those who do it just because of the joy it gives them and third, those who have successfully combined the two above. The rest, she says, is all noise. “Those who are here because it’s a new trend will soon fade away.

But the ones who are here for the actual thing of course, need to buckle up and move along with the time and their international peers. There is so much happening; whatever you do is less.”