Exploring South Asian Identity through Fashion

Neha Bhatt has spent the past four years building a modeling presence alongside a career in corporate strategy. She heads to Harvard Business School this fall. Her gold dress explores the confluence of South Asian and Western aesthetics and design. We spoke to her about the dress, and the through-lines in her own life that inspired it.

HBZVN: Your gold dress explores parallel motifs in aesthetics and design across cultures. How did this idea first come to life?

NEHA BHATT: A lot of what you see in these photos is a reflection of my own experiences switching back and forth between South Asian and “Western” attire depending on what occasion I’m dressing for. Fusion has become so big in fashion, with elements from Indian design making their way into Western garments and trend cycles in the past few years. We wanted to play around with that idea and see how the convergence of accessories and styling across cultures and eras could create visuals that feel new and reimagined. We made some deliberate choices to that effect, like shooting the lehenga look in front of distressed, old-world Parisian-style plastering. The weathered backdrop is a departure from the typical opulence you tend to see ornate Indian garments contextualized within. This is also how makeup artist Saiana Dagbazhalsanova approached the makeup look – it’s really subtle and natural, as opposed to being full bridal glam.

HBZVN: Gold represents something unique in every culture. What does it mean to you personally, and how did that shape this editorial?

NEHA BHATT: To me, gold evokes ideas of heritage and connection to the past. Most of the gold jewelry I wear day-to-day are pieces that were passed down to me from my family in India. The rings I’m wearing in the photos were my grandma’s – she got them from a tiny storefront in Delhi belonging to a “sunar” (goldsmith). In a world of fast fashion and mass production, these rings tie me to craftsmen who are preserving the art of careful, custom creation.

Stylist Anastasiya Gulak used this idea to create connective tissue between heritage and modern luxury across the two looks. She was inspired to mirror the richness of the lehenga with a pantsuit that experimented with draping and gold accents inside a classic Western silhouette. And the gold earrings honor legacy designer brands while introducing a more minimalist flavor to the looks.

HBZVN: These photos were shot in New York. Why New York? Is there any significance of that location?

NEHA BHATT: I think it comes back to the duality theme. New York City to me looks mostly like the concrete jungle everyone thinks of, but then there are certain buildings that harken back to Neoclassical or Art Deco architecture. For instance, we shot the pantsuit look at the Brooklyn Public Library, which was constructed in the Art Deco style. For the most part, the building looks stripped down and structured with its plain limestone and sharp edges; we wanted something more severe to contrast the soft warmth of the lehenga look. But then it also has these incredible, gilded entrance doors that feel reminiscent of the intricacy and bold color of ancient Indian palaces (which Art Deco draws some inspiration from). It’s just a perfect encapsulation of how cultures meld together and lead to really interesting fusion.

And of course, there’s also the fact that New York is where I’ve done most of my modeling. I started modeling four years ago now with no connections in the industry. At first, it was a lot of blindly casting a wide net. I would travel to New York City multiple times a month to attend casting calls, and eventually I started to run into the same people and develop a real network of creatives. For instance, I met photographer W. Eric Snell during a season of NYFW, and he’s become one of my favorite collaborators. He actually grew up in Brooklyn, and our planning for this shoot was informed by his knowledge of the area and where to place this concept. He had us shoot at the Grand Army Plaza, across the street from the library, during midday. In those shots, he used the sunlight to backlight me and create shadowing that amped up the contrast and sharpness of the pantsuit look.

HBZVN: You embarked on your journey as a model while building a career in corporate strategy. What did those two worlds end up teaching each other?

NEHA BHATT: Honestly, there was way more synergy than I would have expected. I’ve worked in corporate reputation and strategy since graduating college, and most of my work has involved understanding large brands, how they are perceived by people, and how to maintain or improve their perception, in service of the company’s goals. As a result, I’ve had the opportunity to shape how brands present themselves to the world, how they communicate, what and who they focus on. At some point, I realized that my modeling trajectory was similar, but on a much smaller scale. Given that I was starting from scratch to establish myself as a model, a lot of what I was doing was developing and branding myself into a compelling muse. And I’ve had the opportunity to observe and work with emerging designers and small clothing brands that are doing much of the same – figuring out how to get their products noticed by the right audiences is ultimately a corporate strategy exercise.

HBZVN: Many people feel pressured to choose a single path. What has your experience taught you about embracing multiple passions?

I’ve spent my whole life being caught between competing, disparate interests. As a kid, I was a huge STEM nerd, but I was also deeply passionate about music and have been singing and performing since childhood. There was a point when I worried about falling into the “jack of all trades” rut. It’s true that having a singular focus makes how you manage your time and distribute your energy a bit more straightforward and efficient; you’d probably be more likely to become the “best” at something. But efficiency, output, and preeminence are not everything. We can experience so much growth simply through the process of trying new things and getting even a little better at them over time – our brains need to be challenged in order to maintain their plasticity. And that sort of cross-pollination is also how you stumble upon areas of overlap across passions, like the ones I have observed between modeling and my career.

HBZVN: Looking back over the past few years, were there ever moments of friction that made it hard to keep up with your endeavors?

NEHA BHATT: Absolutely. At baseline, there’s just the general chaos and sleep deprivation that tends to come alongside working a day job and maintaining a very active passion pursuit on the side. There were also times when I felt discouraged – any model can attest that for every cool show or shoot you secure, there are rejections that really make you question whether you have what it takes to inspire people with your look. As I’ve gotten older, I’ve found myself naturally gravitating away from chasing validation and towards trying to develop relationships and create images that feel meaningful. This editorial exists as a product of that mindset – the result of a group of creatives wanting to bring a concept to life.

HBZVN: What’s next for you, and where do you see fashion showing up?

NEHA BHATT: I’m actually taking a break from work for a bit to go back to being a student – I’ll be at Harvard Business School starting this fall. It’s definitely going to be a change of pace, but I think I’ll be able to synthesize a lot of what I’ve been thinking about and working on for the past few years. I expect that fashion could show up in a number of ways. I’m excited to meet and learn from classmates who have their own perspectives on fashion and identity. There is also a lot of cool innovation happening in fashion right now; the fashion tech space is generating so many possibilities for how fashion can be more customizable, sustainable, and experimental, and business school will be a great environment to get exposure to ventures that are on the cutting edge of that.

HBZVN: Is there a moment from this shoot that you keep coming back to, even now?

I would say it was when Saiana put the finishing touches on the first makeup look, and I stepped into the lehenga. Depending on how they’re constructed, lehengas can be super heavy, and this one was no exception. In some ways, the heft of the skirt felt like a reflection of how important this project was to us. But then as Eric started taking photos, we got into a groove, and I felt like I could embody the flowy, light femininity of the dress too. I remember we were listening to songs by June Freedom, an Afro-Latin dance-pop singer, as we shot. Eventually, the melange of influences we had at play – from music, to wardrobe, to atmosphere, to people – just aligned and clicked.

Model: Neha Bhatt @nehalamode.
Photographer: W. Eric Snell @esnelldesign.
Makeup Artist: Saiana Dagbazhalsanova @saiana.makeup.
Stylist: Anastasiya Gulak @simplyenstyle.
Hair: Shalace Brown @lacedbybrown.

Dress: Nargis @nargiscouture_.
Jewelry: Ralph Lauren @ralphlauren, Marchesa @marchesafashion.
Shoes: Giuseppe Zanotti @giuseppezanotti

Harper’s Bazaar Vietnam