Ordinary people

There havenrsquot been too many laughs in fashion lately Instead we have witnessed selfabsorption to comical extremes We all recall the evidence the hilarious socialmedia spectacles of breathless posts the cascade of airbrushed faces and photogenic outfits and a symmetrical brand narrative wound tightly in a fancy pitchPerhaps it is a consequence of living in a glib generation of nonstop chatter that makes fantasy a tempting escape Saim Ghani and Sanskriti Sharma have turned to the familiar picturebook tradition to create a universe of camouflaged faces and humour to bring unrehearsed fun back in fashion And the only way to make sense of their work for which there are no adult answers is to play pretendldquoFantasy has no genderrdquo declares Ghani 28 between discussing how he tweaked the beloved cartoon character Mickey Mouse for his socialmedia series Disney Travels in Fashion The designer and digital artistrsquos work stands out from typical fashion campaigns because he uses real models and clothes but digitally swaps Mickeyrsquos head onto their faces There is hardly a plot in the short dystopianlike stories which are as fleeting as halfrecalled childhood memories seesaws and toy trains a break in space and time sees Mickey wielding blood bags and oxygen tanks an alien ship shoots up in the cosmosSaim Ghanirsquos digitally tweaked Mickey models are dressed in the Almost Gods clothing labelMaking Mickey his protagonist is as much a commentary on the photofiltered selfies of influencers as it is about the sociallyshared chaos of celebrity and Bollywood culture that has fundamentally rendered fashion models faceless ldquoIt would be amazing if influencers did not existrdquo thinks Ghani ldquoI know of models who had a difficult time financially during the pandemic when work stopped Now that the market has opened most plump gigs have been bagged by influencers The models have not got their due in Indiardquo Bollywood stars are the other focal point but rarely do they use their heft to highlight uncomfortable subjects of beauty and body image ldquoItrsquos all about looking pretty in bridal couture Whatrsquos newrdquo Ghani is excited about his upcoming series which he has called Bridgerton2 in India Here Mickey will step into the shoes of various characters from the Shonda Rhimes web series ldquoI see Mickey as genderless We need more stories that follow the nonbinary themerdquo Kolkatabased Ghani a Muslim grew up in a Hindu neighbourhood surrounded by spirited festivities during Durga puja His Mickey model often adorns a bejewelled devtarsquos mukut the bigbutton nose dressed in a nath bullack like that of Bharatnatyam dancers ldquoIrsquom fascinated by Hindu mythology and I respect the sentiments attached to divinityrdquo Saim says but if he were to take up a mythical theme controversy wouldnrsquot be too far behind Mickey with the familiar round ears and a tail is iconic but safe ldquoI am not a Disney fan The goal here is to enchant viewers with one of the most relatable characters in pop culture while mocking and subverting its fairytale premiserdquoIt takes laborious hours sometimes days for Ghani to get one look right by piecing together a thousand different elements Why would he use his spare time from being a designer to put himself through the ringer ldquoDuring the lockdown I used my time to polish my Photoshop skills and started creating animated characters It was an escape for me it made me happyrdquoldquoWhen I was a kid I hoped the alien who found my balloon was happy I never grew uprdquo reads Pantildeorsquos concept note Pic CourtesyIshant Raj kohliWhy do you hide behind the maskrdquo ldquoWhy escape from realityrdquo are some of the comments found on Sharmarsquos official social account Love From Pano Delhibased Sharma 27 is a trained fashion designer and it was while framing the brand identity for her clothing label that she stumbled on the idea of wearing an anime head sculpture ldquoI wanted my label to have a life of its own So I decided to not just create a character called Pano but also imagine her life storyrdquo she tells this writer over the phone Sharmarsquos fictitious character is halfSpanish and halfIndian and a daughter to puppeteer Raj and Spanish tourist named Evita ldquoItrsquos an ode to my childhood Irsquom a fan of Disney films like Beauty and the Beast and BraverdquoIt was while creating the Pano parable for her online audience that Sharma did a photoshoot wearing the bulbous Pano head over a dress she bought from the label Jodi At a time when fashion imagery seems trapped in the onetrack pomp of styling tricks this fantasy metaverse took on a different meaning Last December Pano was featured in the Fantasy issue of Harperrsquos Bazaar India dressed in top brands like Peacutero Kasha Ekaco and Dhruv Kapoor ldquoI am not an influencer or a model nor do I have aspirations to be one I make that clear to the labels who approach me to model their clothes Pano is not here to promote your label but to give you a storyrdquoSharma weighs 54 kgs the Pano head sculpture another eight kgs A mix of materials including stone powder and Chinese glass sit at the base its top layer smoothened in a coat of plaster of Paris ldquoItrsquos exhausting to carry the mask on my head which is why I limit myself to two photoshoots a dayrdquo she says The details on the head sculpturemdasha wide forehead big curious eyes and a small mouthmdashis the result of a collaboration with a Madhubani artist from her hometown Patna The closest you come to likening Pano would be Wednesday Addams albeit with a top bun and braids thatrsquos sometimes garlanded in marigoldSaim Ghani and Sanskriti SharmaBut itrsquos also hard to overlook Panorsquos resemblance to the Princess Pea character developed by an anonymous Delhi artist who first made an appearance at 2009rsquos India Art Fair edition ldquoI love the way she Princess Pea shines a light on different societal issues faced by womenrdquo Sharma says explaining how her character is different ldquoPano is escapism for me Some people read books some go on vacations I put on the Pano head It teleports me to my own imaginary place where I create stories and bring them to reality Sometimes I even wear the head when I am alone at homerdquo she laughs That her own face no longer matters is her idea of freedom Sharma says she was bullied in school for her dark complexion ldquoItrsquos difficult to get over experiences from your childhood and not much has changed in terms of diversity of skin colour in fashionrdquo she adds Camera shy she gets to rid her inhibitions behind the head sculpture Pano becoming her alterego allowing her to face some of her insecurities and perhaps licence viewers to do the same