‘LGBTQ community still needs a lot of support in India’
Amidst rehearsals and quick bites of his lunch, fashion designer Manish Arora multitasked his way into this interview. Dressed in nothing loud, as people usually perceive him to be 24x7, Arora spoke to us about his show titled We are Family, which is dedicated to the pride community, the support the LGBTQ community needs, and why fashion designers need to speak about the current issues in India.
Arora who chose the Lakmé Fashion Week platform to represent the LGBTQ community through fashion believes that a lot has changed with time. “It is a good time to represent what’s going on today in fashion, in terms of gender. 20 years ago, we couldn’t imagine that. Now, in a country like India, which is still conservative in many ways, we are openly being able to show a concept like We are Family,” he says.
The designer also opines that the LGBTQ community still needs a lot of support from society, especially from outside the pride community. “The laws may have changed but I’m not sure if it’s sufficient enough. For the moment, only section 377 has been removed but equal rights still do not exist. I hope that comes into being,” he says, adding, “The more we are comfortable about expressing equality, like we did in the show, the more everybody appreciates it and talks about it.”
The show presented drag queens and male models dressed exquisitely in glamorous and loud ensembles, which he presented at his recent show at the Paris Fashion Week. He expressed that dressing up in whatever you want should be your choice alone. “There are boys who like to dress up. It’s a choice. I think now people have the freedom to express their choice. It is not just about a guy dressing up as a woman, it is about dressing up as you want. I may be dressed extravagant, in terms of being a guy but I don’t care,” adds Arora.
When you are from a particular fraternity, you can use the medium to express your opinions. Arora, who is known for speaking his mind, feels that fashion is a strong medium but fashion designers do not use it enough. “I don’t know why designers don’t come together to use it (fashion) for issues that the country is currently going through. Of course, one has to make and sell clothes because that’s one’s bread and butter. But it’ll be interesting if they use this medium to create social awareness about topics which may be relevant to them individually,” expresses Arora.