Hindustan Times ST (Jaipur) - Hindustan Times (Jaipur) - City
Designer sisters do vegan glamour
“There’s nothing mind-boggling about French food. We often cook French at home unknowingly. When you make a steak with black pepper, it’s French NAINA DU BOIS JUZAN, FOOD CONSULTANT
Recently, PETA India launched a campaign called ‘Fashion Fauxever’, focussing on animal-friendly clothing and accessories. For the look book of the campaign, Us-based designer sisters Meg and Komie Vora were approached to be creative directors and co-stylists. Meg and Komie were born to an Indian family in the US. Their father being a Jain and mother a Hindu, the sisters grew up as vegetarians and loving animals. A few years ago, Meg was working in practice management software and Komie was working for an online indie jewellery designer. In December 2013, they started their own label Delikate Rayne. “Fashion can be so superficial, so it was important that with Delikate Rayne, the label, we’d prove that it’s beyond that,” says Komie. “What you wear can hold value.” So they built up a cruelty-free or animalfriendly wardrobe. “Being born and raised strict vegetarians played a role in the way we started to view many things. And being first generation born and raised in the US, it was important to go to India and do something special,” says Meg. The look book had their designs and that of many Indian fashion brands and labels that also produced animal-friendly garments. The clothes were made from faux silk, faux leather, faux suede, etc. “This was to purposely show consumers that you don’t have to buy an item made up of animal ingredients as the same look and style can be achieved without sacrificing an animal,” says Komie. Delikate Rayne, their online boutique, is full of lace-trimmed tops, faux leather jackets, asymmetric dresses, slit skirts, etc. Celebs such as pop singer Jojo, actor Jessica Szohr (of Gossip Girl) and actor Jennette Mccurdy have worn their designs. Meg says, “The idea of cruelty-free dressing and what that means to wardrobe is still a foreign concept to many people. Many find it to be a struggle to walk that fine line between fashion and compassion. We’re grateful that people have been open to learning.”