Sisterhood of shared ethics 

Actor Katrina Kaif is to take on the role of brand ambassador at Behno (‘sisters’ in Hindi), a range of consciously made handbags designed in New York and handmade in India. This celebrity endorsement is not as simple as whacking a name on a product and hoping for the best. Kaif is also an equity investor in the seven-year-old label that operates at the intersection of ethical thinking and luxury design. “What a fashion industry needs is a spokesperson; it needs people with a value system who have a voice and a platform to talk about it,” the brand’s founder and creative director Shivam Punjya tells mid-day. “Any form of social action deserves championing, and having a celebrity like Katrina adds a powerful message to the conversation.” Kaif, however, was not the only highlight at the launch held in Mumbai on Thursday night hosted by “friends of the brand” Rahul Reddy, founder at Sabko Coffee and Palak Shah of Ekaya among others. The city’s beloved Premier Padmini taxi or kaali-peeli — featured alongside the New York yellow cab — found itself not only on the invitation, but also bagged a plum role in the campaign images starring the actor. Born in California, Punjya later moved to New York and now calls Mumbai home. “The kaali-peeli and yellow cab share a synergy and vibe of the two cities. They also share the language of taxi hand signals. Contemporary culture deals with the social and it is interesting how cabs blur geographical boundaries. The two urban transport symbols provided a framework to show our transition from New York to India.” 

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