Who’s the transgender designer to Bollywood’s Priyanka Chopra and Kareena Kapoor? Saisha Shinde recently came out on Instagram – 5 things to know about India’s trailblazing LGBT fashion icon
She competed on Project Runway and won a Versace internship after appearing on reality show Lakme Fashion House – now Bollywood A-listers including Priyanka Chopra, Madhuri Dixit, Kareena Kapoor and Sunny Leone rank among Saisha Shinde’s fans
Indian fashion designer Saisha Shinde recently took to Instagram to come out as a trans woman, through her official account @officialswapnilshinde. Shinde, 39, penned a heartfelt post detailing her confusion about and then acceptance of her gender.
In an interview with Hindustan Times, Shinde said it took several years for her to accept her true identity, but “deep down I always knew who I was and that’s why it became easier.”
Here are the five things to know about the trailblazing designer.
She is a Bollywood darling
She designed all of Priyanka Chopra’s outfits in a film
Shinde was responsible for designing Priyanka Chopra’s avant garde costumes for Madhur Bhandarkar’s acclaimed film Fashion (2008).
“The film clicked; so did her clothes. Later I designed her dresses for the Sunsilk ad and for her events,” she told The New Indian Express.
Shinde described her eponymous brand as “a balance between ‘sexy’ without being cheap or crude, and ‘elegant’ without being boring or matronly”. Shinde has also designed gorgeous pageant dresses for Miss World and Miss Universe contestants in the past.
She was in Project Runway