The sleeveless gown worn by Miss Universe was designed by India’s first transwoman celebrity fashion designer

Recently, Harnaaz Sandhu bagged the Miss Universe 2021 making India proud. She was crowned by Nadia Ferreira of Paraguay and Lalela Mswane of South Africa. The breathtakingly gorgeous Miss Universe gown was designed by India’s first transwoman celebrity fashion designer Saisha Shinde.

In January this year, Swapnil Shinde came out as a transwoman and called herself Saisha Shinde. She took to Instagram to share the entire process of crafting up the beautiful gown from sketching, draping and creating the final masterpiece. She has reportedly worked for different attires of Kareena Kapoor Khan, Sunny Leone, and Shraddha Kapoor.

Saisha Shinde made a debut at Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) as part of the Gen Next class of 2006. Since then their label is known for gorgeous cocktail dresses, red-carpet gowns.

In an interview with an English daily in June this year, Saisha Shinde said that it is time that fashion brands have designers like them as there is a whole untapped market of transgender communities. She further added that this will only be possible when more people from the mainstream media will come out for who they are, which will eventually lead to more representation and diversity.

“My legacy is to change every mindset only and only by LOVE,” she notes in an Instagram post.

https://www.instagram.com/p/CJp3YqwMwRG/

Talking to News 18, Shinde said how they designed the gown for the Miss Universe pageant, adding that she had to look over several factors while designing for this reputed pageant. Factors like elegance, beauty, how the contestant will look exquisite and delicate were important. She also added that looking powerful and strong in that dress was also fundamental.

Shinde also added that since Sandhu believes in sustainability, they used embroidery materials that were made of stones and sequins.

They had written on Instagram when they came out in January that she realized that she is a ‘not a gay man, I am a transwoman’. Shinde also mentioned she realized in her early 20s when she was studying in NIFT that she was different. 6 years ago she finally accepted who she was.

The 40-year-old designer has designed glamorous outfits for Priyanka Chopra Jones, Deepika Padukone, Anushka Sharma, Madhuri Dixit and many more.

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