Reform, a fashion brand known as a celebrity favorite, released a collection of 20 items last week in collaboration with influencer and entrepreneur Devon Lee Carlson. This line appeared to fit perfectly into the present moment of supply. It comes with a yellow butter, a vintage print and a thin neck scarf.
However, a refreshing three-piece outfit from the collection – baby blue midi skirts and flowy camisoles topped with a long, thin scarf – landed the brand at the heart of familiar debate. Because, as many have pointed out online, the combination of works, which cost around $400 in total, is very similar to the South Asian lehenga.
On Instagram, many of the comments on collaboration reform focused on budgets, criticizing the view that they are “South Asians” without acknowledging the culture that stimulated it. Manhattan actress Sai Ananda has over 16,000 likes! A video from Tiktok that won the award, side by side compares stills from early 2000s Bollywood films wearing lehenga.
“I'm sure if I dig deep enough, I'll be able to find pictures of me and my friends from the early 2000s. I'm wearing something very similar in the temple playground,” Ananda said in a phone interview. “It's completely fine to be inspired by different cultures, but I think there's a level of respect that is necessary to avoid erasing the cultural background.”
In an interview with Forbes, Carlson, who dressed in a pink outfit at the collaboration launch party in March, said the collection consists of riffs of items from her personal closet. That particular outfit said she wore a vintage dress by British designer John Galliano, which she received from her boyfriend's mother. “It's one of the few pieces in my closet and is too valuable to share, so I worked at ref to design a two-piece set inspired by it.”
A reform spokesman said in an email statement that the brand respected “the origin of this criticism that has influenced the Western style of South Asian culture,” and that “we cannot isolate clothing or trend items in isolation without a wider historical and cultural precedent.” Carlson did not respond to requests for comment.
Kestrel Jenkins, host of the Conscious Chatting Podcast, Exploring Sustainable and Ethical Fashion, said in a phone interview that even high-end designers like Galliano draw inspiration from a range of cultural aesthetics. But she said she is a key differentiator between borrowing ideas and expropriation, especially when clothing is repackaged at a high price by the brand in a strong position.
“We live in a very strange time when credit ideas are farther apart and far less assumed as a fundamental part of doing business,” she said. “We have clothes that turn as quickly as possible, and any questions about their speed, attention to detail, and what you actually do are intentional and thoughtful.”
The frustration of South Asian consumers is not solely focused on the Reformation. Since last year's incident, some nodded to a video posted to Tiktok by fashion rental company Bipty and called it “Scandinavian Summer.”
In that video, which was subsequently removed, employees of the company look at the tendency of women to drape scarves on their chests, looking similar to what South Asian women call dupattas. “Aura, what is it?” the employee says. “It's very European and very classy,” she also calls it a “Scandinavian” style choice.
The response to the video has led Bipty to issue an apology from the company's founder, Natalia Ohanesian. She said she was “evidently not European” in appearance, and her “teammates” weren't meant to distrust the community. She added, “I am very sorry for the offended South Asian community.”
Anyway, Misstep has produced many parodies of South Asian women posing with traditional staples, calling them “Scandinavian summer dresses.” This issue came again last month when British consumer brand Oh Polly posted a video to Tiktok for one of the new dresses, which South Asian commenters said had strong similarities to another traditional outfit, Sharara.
Jenkins said incidents like these shed light on the constant tensions of fashion, where certain clothes are valued more than others based on who is wearing them.
For example, if a reform outfit is worn like lunch, imagine a perception of that garment. Then, if the same garment is worn by Indigenous peoples, the perception can be very different.
