Sunday September 11, South Asian New York Fashion Week Runway Show 3

Here is what it was really like attending the first ever South Asian New York Fashion Week.

I would like to start off this post by congratulating the founders for putting this together and finally giving South Asian creators the recognition we deserve.

A little background on this event, it was a very hectic time and it was not very well coordinated leading up to the day of. According to one of the models from Runway Show 2 who wishes to remain anonymous, she was invited to walk in the show only 3 days before the date. She was out of town, unable to attend her fitting, and was simply overall confused since it was already publicly announced 2 weeks prior that all the models had been chosen. I on the other hand, was invited to attend the show as an influencer only 2 days before. I did not receive a formal invitation through my email, instead it was sent over Instagram DMs.

The Show

Upon arrival, I was very impressed with the presentation of the venue. I sat front row, right side, close to the entrance of the models. Avanti Nagral opened the show with her singing which completely set the mood. Hats off to her because she sang the most beautiful mashup for this show. I would also like to highlight that there was South Asian music playing during this event which made it so much more worth it. All the models were beautiful and the combination of their walk, sass, and expression had the guests at the edge of their seats. Something I wanted to highlight was “OUR TIME” which stood out to me the most. SANYFW did an amazing job highlighting the fact that we have waited so long for the world to see our potential but it is finally OUR TIME and our turn to have a place in the fashion community.

The shown was roughly 30 minutes and after it ended, there was time for the guests to socialize with the models and the founders.

The aftermath

I wanted to mention this because I have been seeing a lot of it post SANYFW. The overall message of SANYFW was to be “all inclusive” which includes darker skin colors and plus size models. Many people have shared their stories on social media of what they went through with SANYFW but the overall conclusion was it was NOT all inclusive. A plus size model who walked in Runway Show 1 shared her experience and from her fitting she claimed, “everybody in this room is gorgeous and stunning and they are also all thin.”

While there is a first time for everything, the South Asian community still has hope for next year that SANYFW will be more conscious to be all inclusive as well as more organized.

Thank you again South Asian New York Fashion Week, I am looking forward to seeing how this grows.