Founder and Designer Megha Rao, and Creative Director Pooja Desai Shah from Indo-Western fashion label holiCHIC made their mark at New York Fashion Week in partnership with local retailer, Flying Solo. The show opened with a look that represented the brand and everything it stands for: a traditional Indian sari paired with classic jeans and a t-shirt.
The visual and literal juxtaposition of East and West with a sari set against the skyline was a full circle moment for the designer. holiCHIC developed well before the brand’s official launch in 2014; growing up as an Indian-American in NYC, Megha Rao was faced with the task of learning to embrace both identities and moulding them into one and found it best to express her identity through fashion.
“Many Indian-Americans are faced with the battle of which identity to embrace, but seeing it in fashion and on the runway gives them the courage to accept both whole-heartedly. We’re seeing our culture embraced on the runway – it’s not Indian or American, it’s both,” shares Founder and Designer Megha Rao when discussing how she views the impact of seeing holiCHIC at NYFW.
holiCHIC announced their retail partnership with Flying Solo in August where the multi-designer retail store houses the brand’s top sellers and newest collections. Each year the retailer hosts a fashion show as an opportunity for many small brands they work with to showcase their upcoming collections to the public – holiCHIC was one of the brand’s selected to take part in the show. Alongside their retail partnership, holiCHIC teamed up with Product of Culture to develop their fashion show. Founded by Archana Misra Jain and Monika Sharma, Product of Culture is a WOC-founded and funded collective dedicated to amplifying South Asian brands and creators. Paired with music and visuals by DJ USA, art by @ManasiArya, Tesher, Jay Sean, Payal Kadakia, Richa Moorjani and Deepica Mutyala were among the South Asian celebrities, entrepreneurs and influencers to show their support.
Images courtesy of (Image courtesy: holiCHIC by Megha/Instagram) and .
