A fashion shoot that turned children from India’s slums into celebrities goes viral

A group of underprivileged schoolchildren have unexpectedly turned into local celebrities after a video of a fashion shoot in India went viral.

The footage shows children, most of them girls between the ages of 12 and 17, wearing red and gold costumes made from discarded clothing.

The teenagers designed and tailored costumes and modeled their creations against the backdrop of the slum’s dirty walls and terraces.

This video was shot and edited by a 15 year old boy.

The video was first posted on the Instagram page of Innovation for Change, a non-governmental organization (NGO) in Lucknow, earlier this month.

The charity works with around 400 children in the city’s slums, providing them with free meals, education and job skills. The children who appeared in the photo shoot are students of this NGO.

Mehak Kannojia, one of the models in the video, told the BBC that she and her fellow students often observe the sartorial choices of Bollywood actresses on Instagram and try to copy some of their outfits for themselves. He said there were many.

“This time we decided to pool our resources and work as a group,” the 16-year-old said.

They wisely chose for their project a campaign by Sabyasachi Mukherjee, one of India’s top fashion designers who has dressed Bollywood celebrities, Hollywood actresses and billionaires. In 2018, Kim Kardashian wore red saree with sequins For a Vogue shoot.

Mukherjee is also known as the “King of Weddings” of India. He has dressed thousands of brides, including Bollywood celebrities like Anushka Sharma and Deepika Padukone. Priyanka Chopra wears stunning red Sabyasachi to marry Nick Jonas clothing.

Mehak said their project, called Yeh Laal Ran (Red), was inspired by the designers’ traditional bridal collections.

“We sifted through the donated clothing and picked out all the red items. Then we zeroed in on the costumes we wanted to create and started putting them together.”

The girls had to sew about 12 costumes in three to four days, which was a difficult task, but “it was a lot of fun,” Mehak said.

For the ramp walk, Mehak said he carefully studied the models in Sabyasachi’s videos and imitated their movements.

“Like his models, some of us are wearing sunglasses, some of us are drinking sippers through straws, and some of us are walking around with bundles of cloth under our arms. I was there.”

Some of it came together organically, Mehak said. “At one point during filming, I had to laugh. At that moment, someone said something funny and I burst out laughing.”

It was an ambitious project, but the result has won the hearts of India. The video, made on a shoestring budget using donated clothing, went viral after Mukherjee reposted it on her Instagram feed with a heart emoji.

The campaign was widely praised, with many people comparing their work to that of experts on social media.

The video brought a lot of attention to the charity, and the school was visited by several television stations, some of the children were invited to appear on a popular FM radio station, and Bollywood actress Tamana Bhatia visited the school. , received scarves from the children. .

Mehak said the reaction was “completely unexpected.”

“It feels like a dream come true. All of our friends are sharing the video and saying, ‘You’re famous!’ Our parents were so happy to hear that we were getting so much attention.”

“We feel great. There is only one dream left for us now – to meet Sabyasachi.”

But the shoot has also been criticized for showing young girls dressed as brides in a country where millions of girls are forced into marriage by their families before they turn the legal age of 18. Some wondered whether this would encourage child marriage.

Innovation for Change addressed the concerns in an Instagram post, saying it does not encourage child marriage.

“Our aim is not to promote child marriage in any way. Today, these girls are able to do this by fighting against such ideas and restrictions. Thank them, otherwise the morale of these children will drop.”