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Ripe with splashes of colour, chunky yet intricate pieces of jewellery adorn the gorgeous model radiating pure confidence — personifying Anisha Parmar’s collection’s very essence. Eclectic, contemporary influences seamlessly blend with India’s cultural heritage in Anisha Parmar’s Badass Bride collection. Known for her ethnic, urban, luxury fashion label ‘Anisha Parmar London’, a hub for diversity and cultural crossovers with British culture, her collection was the glorious outcome of her own traditional wedding preparations. “As the preparations went underway, it was at this point that I felt like the people around me were treating me differently, as I turned into the woman who was getting married, instead of just a girl. It felt like there was this weight on my shoulders, like I should now be doing things in a certain way, wearing certain clothes at family gatherings and I now felt burdened by all the things ‘I should be doing’. From this frustration, as well as my need to be respectful to traditions and my elders, I created the Badass Bride collection as an alter ego of my ‘coy’ bride self,” says Anisha, about her series, based off the persona the brand caters to, i.e. the bold, confident, badass woman.
Don’t get the designer wrong though, Anisha has nothing but love for her cultural heritage as well — in fact, whenever she feels a creative block, she pulls out the many intricate pieces of gold jewellery handed down to her from her grandmothers and mother. “I adore the Indian tradition of passing down jewellery from mother to daughter and so, when it came to my wedding, I was incredibly excited when I got to pick what pieces of jewellery I was going to wear,” she explains.
Born and raised in North West London, her upbringing has broadly influenced her line, “My parents were always my strength. I was never forced to cook or spend my weekends cleaning, or following in my own Indian, Gujarati & Hindu traditions. That was all completely up to me. Thus, I got to choose aspects of my Indian and British tradition that truly made me, well, me!” That, linked with her formal training from the London College of Fashion, makes up for an interesting blend of individualistic pieces bearing varied cultures.
Whilst creating this collection, she got in touch with her friend and talented fashion photographer Rustylicious who was in Mumbai at the time. Together, the duo made the concept a reality along with fashion stylists Pranay Jaitly, Shounak Amonkar, makeup artist Pooja Sainani, and model Priyanka Karunakaran; with a little help from M.I.A. blaring through the speakers at the shoot.
“The greatest thing about the shoot was having my mother present. The model wore part of her wedding outfit for one look and my mother was so excited by it all! On seeing her pride and excitement, I felt myself fully embody the Badass Bride personality—realizing that it was truly me all along. Traditions can be extremely important and a way of not losing our heritage. However, if those same traditions start to shut you down as a person, it is really time to adapt them and make them apply to you. I love my heritage and through this incredible shoot, have realised that I can carry on the legacy, but in my own way.”
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