Phavini Kalra
Sep 3, 2018 · 2 min read

MJ said it best, “It don’t matter if you’re black or white.”

A couple of times a week, a client will ask me, “Will this outfit make me look dark?” (For some context, I am a fashion designer with a clientele that is 90% Thai-Indian; I, myself, am Thai-Indian.)

I never know how to respond.

One particular case comes to mind — a young customer was trying on a lehenga in a vibrant shade of orange. The color of the outfit was making her glow and glisten in ways I can’t fully capture with words; I literally couldn’t keep my eyes off her.

Of course, she asked, “is this color making me look dark?”

I wanted to go off on a rant, perhaps something like this, “why is looking dark considered to be a bad thing? That shade of bright-a$$ orange definitely highlights your beautiful skin color which is perhaps a shade or two darker than the average Thai-Indian person, and so what? Your skin color is beautiful!”

I am constantly perplexed. More than half the time, the person standing in front of me scrutinizing her skin color in the mirror is “light” and “fair-skinned” as can be, and still seems to have some dark-skinned complex.

Guys, I get it. Once upon a time, India was under colonial rule. Asia, for the most part, was not as powerful or wealthy as the West. It is understandable if older generations and our ancestors viewed the “fair-skinned” folk as superior, and thus beautiful. But those days are over. We need to get with the times and embrace our pigmentation. We need to teach our kids and future generations that our color is ok, more than ok, beautiful and stunning even. That isn’t to say our color is ­more beautiful, just that it is equally perfect.

When I was a kid, super skinny was considered fashionable and deemed “beautiful”. Remember Kate Moss in the 90s and the whole heroin-chic style that pervaded Hollywood and the fashion industry? Yeah, I grew up thinking constantly that my butts and thighs were too damn big and why couldn’t I look like my skinnier friends from school? Then J. Lo came along and announced to the world that her curves were in fact, to be yearned for and to be admired. Her unapologetic confidence made the world sit up and take notice. She was followed by the likes of Beyonce, the Kardashians, Nicki Minaj, etc. What I’m trying to say is that standards of beauty ­change. Similarly, it’s time to change how our community looks at skin color. Fair skinned, dark skinned, all nonsense. Be happy, be confident, and you will be beautiful.

We live in an amazing time when all body types are accepted. Got an athletic figure? Flaunt it. Got the curves? Flaunt it! Long and lean? Flaunt it. And we should add color to that. Dark or light? Flaunt it. MJ knew what he was talking about.

Phavini Kalra

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Fashion Designer with a degree in Economics