Innovate for change
The fashion show was organized by children living in a Lucknow slum.
A video of a fashion photoshoot in India has gone viral and unexpectedly transformed a group of underprivileged schoolchildren into local celebrities.
The images show the children, mostly girls aged 12 to 17, dressed in red and gold outfits made from discarded clothing.
The teenagers designed and made the outfits and also served as models to showcase their creations, with the grimy walls and terraces of the slum serving as the backdrop to their ramp walk.
The video was filmed and edited by a 15-year-old boy.
Innovate for change
The girls chose their accessories by watching fashion designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee's Instagram videos
The video first appeared earlier this month on the Instagram page of Innovation for Change, a non-governmental organization (NGO) in the city of Lucknow.
The charity works with around 400 children from the city's slums, providing them with free food, education and job skills. The children featured in the filming are students of this NGO.
Mehak Kannojia, one of the models in the video, told the BBC that she and her castmates closely follow Bollywood actresses' fashion choices on Instagram and often replicate some of their outfits for themselves.
“This time we decided to pool our resources and work as a group,” explained the 16-year-old.
For their project, they chose wisely: a campaign by Sabyasachi Mukherjee, one of India's biggest fashion designers who has dressed Bollywood celebrities, Hollywood actresses and billionaires. In 2018, Kim Kardashian wore her sequined red sari for a Vogue shoot.
Mukherjee is also known as the 'King of Weddings' in India. He has dressed thousands of brides, including Bollywood celebrities such as Anushka Sharma and Deepika Padukone. Priyanka Chopra married Nick Jonas in a stunning red Sabyasachi outfit.
Innovate for change
The girls said they sewed about a dozen outfits in three or four days.
Mahek said their project, called Yeh laal rang (the color red), was inspired by the designer's heritage bridal collection.
“We went through the clothes we were given and picked out all the red items. Then we zeroed in on the outfits we wanted to make and started putting them together.”
It was intense work: the girls sewed a dozen outfits in three or four days but, Mehak says, they had “a lot of fun doing it.”
For the ramp walk, Mehak says she carefully studied the models in the Sabyasachi videos and copied their movements.
“Just like her models, some of us wore sunglasses, one sipped through a straw, while another walked with a bundle of tissues under her arm.”
Some of it, Mehak says, came together organically. “At one point during filming, I was supposed to laugh. At that point, someone said something funny and I burst out laughing.”
Innovate for change
Outfits were made from donated clothing
It was an ambitious project, but the result won hearts in India. Made on a shoestring budget using clothing donations, the video went viral after Mukherjee reposted it on his Instagram feed with a heart emoji.
The campaign has received widespread praise, with many people on social media comparing their work to that of professionals.
The viral video attracted huge attention to the charity and its school was visited by several TV channels, some children were invited to appear on shows on popular FM radio stations and Bollywood actress Tamannah Bhatia visited them to accept a scarf from the children. .
According to Mahek, the response was “totally unexpected”.
“It's like a dream come true. All my friends are sharing the video and saying 'you've become famous'. My parents were full of joy when they heard all the attention we were getting.
“We feel wonderful. All we have left is one dream: to meet Sabyasachi.”
Innovate for change
The fashion photoshoot garnered widespread praise in India
However, the filming has also been criticized, with some questioning whether showing girls dressed as brides could encourage child marriage in a country where millions of girls are still married off by their families before reaching 18, the legal age. .
Innovation for Change responded to this concern in an Instagram post, saying it had no intention of encouraging child marriage.
“Our aim is in no way to promote child marriage. Today these girls are able to do something like this by fighting against such ideas and restrictions. Please appreciate them, otherwise the morale of these children will fall.”
