- 23 minutes ago
Traditional Indian wear meets Western style in tonight's Street Style, featuring Neha Karina. Rynessa Cutting has more.
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Street Style is brought to you by Garnier.
00:08So last week the spotlight was on traditional Indian attire.
00:13But we can't overlook the significance and the impact of
00:17Indo-Western fashions on the fashion scene.
00:20So today we're here with one of the well-known names in the business,
00:24Miss Neha Karina.
00:26So Miss Karina, first of all, thank you for having us here today.
00:30Thank you for having me.
00:31So when we speak about Indo-Western fashion, what exactly defines Indo-Western?
00:38So that is a very wide identification for Indian garments.
00:43Indo-Western is a fusion of Westernized garments and Indo-elements, right?
00:48So now we have, let's say, a sari blouse.
00:51I wouldn't say they're elements or Pacific garments.
00:54It's really like, okay, you can use a dirty pants, right?
00:58And you can put slits on the dirty pants.
01:00And that is perfectly for going to the beach, you know?
01:04I had a conversation with another person.
01:07Yeah, just yesterday she said, I'm going to be wearing a dirty,
01:10I have a dirty pants and I have an older weather with a bralette with a bikini top.
01:13So it depends on the silhouette that you choose, could actually, there's no specific silhouette.
01:19So let's say we decide like a simple blouse, like a shirt.
01:24And you just wear a simple Indian chain with it and a nice langa skirt with kan-kan.
01:30That alone is Western.
01:32So apart from the clothing, are there other fashion elements that are traditionally Indian
01:38that you are seeing now being incorporated into the mainstream type fashion?
01:42I think everybody is getting back fond of mehindi as well.
01:45I mean, seeing the stick on mehindi, so the mehindi tattoos are a big trend that you would have seen
01:50back in the day.
01:51I see a lot of vendors bringing that back.
01:54But I saw a very big craze this year, especially former Hindi as well.
01:58But in terms of the Indo-Western, Westernization of what we offer as a Caribbean,
02:06we have our own identity as the Indo-Caribbean diaspora.
02:11Would you say that you're seeing traditional Indian elements, fashion elements,
02:16making their way into the mainstream?
02:18I would say so.
02:19I see a lot happening, not only within the Caribbean, but internationally.
02:25I just saw Tyra Banks just posted a whole Diwali real being,
02:29but she was very much traditional, but she was using an Indo-Western design as well.
02:33So I think it is becoming a mainstream event to be dressed in Indian clothing.
02:39So are there any concerns about the erosion of values and cultures through this type of fusion?
02:46I think it's a good thing.
02:49It's a positive thing.
02:50I think people are more looking to bring their culture alive.
02:54With the Indo-Western pizzas, I'm happy to see that people are actually wearing it more for their everyday wear
03:01than just looking at for an Indian occasion.
03:05So, example.
03:06As I said, carnival is a big thing for me, especially for those FETs.
03:10Because they want to look fabulous, you know, long time with the FETs.
03:14We just wear our jeans and our top, how are we going?
03:16Now it's a totally different ball game.
03:18They have to get the hair, the makeup done.
03:20But they want that Indo-Western feel because they want to feel a certain way.
03:24They want to look different.
03:25And that Indo-Western, the elements give that difference.
03:28Birthday parties, 50th birthday, 60th birthday, they all want to be Indo-Western.
03:34Where would you say Trinidad and Tobago is in terms of leading the charge in Indo-Caribbean,
03:40Western-type fashion?
03:41I think, again, I go back to the start of the dance groups.
03:45The dance groups had started, I think, started that era for Indo-Western fusion.
03:53Because, as I said, they don't take the traditional aspect and perform.
03:58They have developed their own art form.
04:00I ran a Miss India Wool-White pattern.
04:02We had three international winners.
04:04But in those three international winners, they all had, we all won top first in talent.
04:12And that was our fusion of Indian dancing.
04:17And those Indian dancers, what they use on our local dancers, I'm proud to say,
04:23they are competing against all these Indian classical arts, different types of dance.
04:27But what makes our fusion, Caribbean fusion, so beautiful is the costuming that they produce,
04:33the Indo-Western, I will call it Indo-Western,
04:36because they're Westernizing the costumes from the traditional aspect of Indian classical dance.
04:40The costuming that Trinidad has developed, I think, I mean, I could be probably wrong,
04:45but they're using that traditional aspect and modernizing it with a little bit of a carnival touch.
04:51Remember the headpieces that they wear, they style themselves with, those are inspired from math.
04:56So I think people don't look at the element of how far the Caribbean has gone with Indian fashion.
05:03And we need to be able to speak about it.
05:06Very well said. Very well said.
05:08So guys, if you have any events coming up, just remember,
05:12it doesn't have to be an Indian occasion to wear any type of Indian fashion.
05:17My name is Renessa Cutting, and once again, this is Street Style.
05:20We'll see you all again next week, Thursday.
05:29Street Style was brought to you by Garnier.