Popular Instagram influencers Aashna Hegde and Nagma Mirajkar are set to walk the ramp for Indian designer, Archana Kochhar at Fashion Week 2022. This serves as a second major milestone for Indian social media influencers in the fashion world, the first being Masoom Minawala’s debut at Milan Fashion Week earlier this year in February.
The start of a new era
Not so long ago, leading Indian fashion content creator, Masoom Minawala, became the first Indian social media influencer to walk the ramp at Milan Fashion Week. The designer she walked for, Vaishali S, was also the first female Indian designer to debut at MFW.
Masoom was quoted as saying, “It’s an absolute dream come true to get an opportunity to walk as a showstopper at Milan Fashion Week and that too for a designer like Vaishali, who has always been my favourite.”This marked a major win for diversity in representation at a global level and also paved the way for Indian content creators in the world of fashion. Aashna Hegde and Nagma Mirajkar are the newest Indian influencers to debut on the ramp at the second round of fashion week this month.
The start of a new era has been heralded by these influencers and puts Indian content creators on the map in the global fashion industry.
Influence of the influencers at Fashion Week
Archana Kochhar, a leading Mumbai-based fashion designer, is the one responsible for the fashion week debut of Aashna Hegde and Nagma Mirajkar. They have been chosen to be her showstoppers for New York Fashion Week and London Fashion Week, respectively.
She expressed her excitement for the shows by stating, “ I’m super excited because this is my fourth showing at New York Fashion Week and my first-ever showing at London Fashion Week.” She also added, “In today’s technology-driven era, social media influencers pose as powerful thought leaders in the world of entertainment and fashion.”
This also plays a major part in supporting the Hon’ble Prime Minister of India, Shri Narendra Modi’s campaign of 2014, “Make in India’ as Archana is the sole fashion designer to be chosen for these reputed fashion weeks this year.
Her collections, “Jharokha” for NYFW and “Lé Gehna” for LFW, are deeply rooted in Indian heritage. While Jharokha showcases the artistic textile skills of women of Madhya Pradesh and is a “window to change” for a more sustainable use of fabrics in fashion.
Lé Gehna, on the other hand, is a beautiful mixture of traditional Indian artistry and western silhouettes. Topped with royal gems that depict Indian heirlooms, it is the perfect image of the “Indian Millennial Bride.”
Who are Aashna and Nagma?
Aashna is a lifestyle influencer with an outstanding following of 1.1 million on Instagram. She will be sharing the stage with Youtube content creators Gaurav Taneja and Ritu Rathee Taneja.
The husband-wife duo from Delhi has 7.7 million subscribers on their Youtube channel, Flying Beast, and is also extremely popular on Instagram.
Nagma Mirajkar is also another creative trailblazer who worked her way up on Tiktok and now stands at 6.7 million followers on Instagram. She is essentially an entertainment influencer but is also known for her fashion and lifestyle content.
The new relationship between fashion and influencers
New York Fashion Week will also have American social media influencers as showstoppers. Mckenzi Brooke of Tiktok and Gavin Magnus will be the most notable ones.
Gavin is a Youtube and Instagram star and has 2.4 million followers on Instagram. He will make his debut with Isabella Barrett, a child reality TV star and the youngest self-made millionaire. On the other hand, Mckenzi is the famous “It girl” of Tiktok and has 15.2 million followers on it.
Earlier this month, we also saw Ankush Bahuguna, an Instagram content creator with a following of 980 K, walk-in Delhi-based fashion designer Rinzim Dadu’s show.
The newfound relationship between fashion and social media influencers have gone beyond just reels and posts on Instagram. The fashion world now more than ever recognizes the power of influencers and the impact they can have on their targeted audiences.
Without a doubt, this change in the fashion landscape has only an upward trajectory of growth.
