Red Lotus,
a sari label owned by designer Sharmila Nair, has taken up the cause of
transgender people in India. In a society where the word transgender is
associated with ridicule, it was a bold move on Nair's part to design
her newest body of work with inspiration from the transgender community
in India. Even riskier was her choice to use transgender models.
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Red Lotus |
Having just recently released her collection to the public, Kochi-based
Nair has been busy participating in interviews with a batch of
publications regarding Red Lotus' digital ad campaign. With the dual
benefit of getting her work into the public eye and spreading a message
of acceptance, Nair has a clearly-formed vision. Raising awareness about
gender equality and portraying beauty beyond physical appearance,
Nair's work takes on a different quality.
Conducted in-house rather than through an agency, the shoot posed some
very telling difficulties. Even after cancelling nearly 5 times because
finding a location and booking a makeup artist were so difficult (Nair
was turned away with "a vague reason to avoid us" she says in an
interview with
Polka Cafe), the
shoot has been a rousing success. An outpouring of support from the
LGBT community have sent models Maya Menon and Gowri Savithri into viral
territory. When the idea of using transgender models first cropped up,
Nair said that she didn't know how to go about finding them. Luckily
Jijo Kuriakose, founder of LGBT community Queerala in Kerala, bridged
the gap between the two 29-year old models and Nair.
At first, Menon and Savithri approached their working relationship with
cautious eyes; understandable considering the stigma a transgender
person must fight against. Eventually, Nair's dedication to getting the
shoot done and sharing parts of herself paid off, "as we interacted,
things started becoming more and more clear and comfortable ... they
were dedicated and confident with whatever they were doing," despite
having no prior modeling experience. In an interview with
afaqs!,
Nair states that they were looking for inexperienced models, and
forewent the screening process entirely. The authenticity that
accompanies unfamiliarity gave this campaign the jolt it needed.
Having been inspired by the transgender community, it is only natural
that the collection have an appropriate name. Mazhavil, meaning rainbow
in Malayalam, is the name Nair chose for her latest collection. Every
color in the rainbow has been used in this collection, made of organic,
hand-loomed Hubli cotton which has been naturally dyed to retain its
vibrancy over the years. A sari will cost anywhere from 1,500 rupees
($23, £16) to 2,500 rupees ($38, £26).
The reception of such a daring ad campaign teetered until the internet
got hold of the pictures. Nair went forward with the campaign despite
skepticism from associates and even the models themselves, according to
an
afaqs! interview: "So, people asked me if I really wanted to
do this? Think twice, or three times before doing this, but I was pretty
confident that I should do this."
Support from the LGBT community and Facebook regulars alike continues to support Nair's decision.
Queerala, a non-profit organisation that fights for LGBT rights, is
located in Kerala, one of the most forward-thinking states of India. The
city Nair is based out of, Kochi, is a district of Kerala located in
the southern part of the country. Last year in November, Kerala's state
government passed a
Transgender Policy
in order to ensure that their rights to freedom and movement will not
be infringed upon. Access to social and economic opportunities are now
legally guaranteed. Proper terminology has been enacted to cover
transgender people in all forms of transition. This follows on the heels
of a 2014 decision by the Indian Supreme Court to introduce a third
gender.
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Red Lotus |