Updated On: 16 April, 2023 07:51 AM IST | Mumbai | Mitali Parekh
No sample size can fit all, say fashion stylists. Business sense, infrastructure limitations—and only a some amount of discrimination—dictates whether a brand dresses a star

Sample size or not, a power fashion fairy godmother, such as stylist-producer Rhea Kapoor, can manifest couture for a star with any body type. Bhumi Pednekar at the launch of Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre . Pic/Getty Images; A designer is more likely to custom-make an outfit for one-time use, if (s)he has an relationship with the celebrity. Seen here, Parineeti Chopra walks the ramp for Ritika Mirchandani at the Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI 2023. Pic/Satej Shinde; Though not a sample size, Sonam Kapoor’s brand equity as a fashion icon means most design houses would make and lend garments for the red carpet, without hinging it to her success as an actor. Seen here at the Red Sea International Film Festival in Saudi Arabia. Pic/Getty Images; Early in her career, despite her success at the box office, designers hesitated to dress Vidya Balan as she was branded ‘unfashionable’. Seen here at the inauguration ceremony of the Nita Mukesh Ambani Cultural Centre. Pic/Satej Shinde
A sample size—that a model wears on the runway—is size two to four. So when our girl in LA, Priyanka Chopra Jonas, cried when reminded she was not a sample size, well… it’s as much a surprise as the fact that we broke the planet, isn’t it?
Though Chopra did not name the stylist who purportedly body-shamed her, it was assumed she was talking about Law Roach who styled her for an Oscars-related event. He responded saying his statement was “taken out of context”. In an interview with The Cut, he had said that PeeCee’s team had thrown him under the bus. “It’s her gatekeepers,” he said. “how they presented what I said to her to make her feel that way. I am sure it was taken outta context to get her to be like, ‘Oh, okay, I’m not working with him no more. He’s insensitive to my body.’ Which I’m like, ‘How is that possible? I’ve been dressing you since pre-pandemic, and it’s been nothing but great things. I think sometimes what it is with them [agents] is that they have an agenda and I need to be the bad guy because I’m the one who’s dealing with the clothes and the body.”