The dawn of the 21st century made way to various changes in women’s fashion sense. These have been ever-changing over several decades along with rapid and tremendous changes in the last 10 years. The western world seems to have had a lot of influence on the Indian fashion trends for quite a while now. With international brands and products being marketed and promoted among the Indian youth, the need to look perfect and meet the western standards of beauty has taken its toll on young women.

High heels, polished hair, glass skin and the need to look fabulous in every way is the current trend of the 20s. Even though fashion is a way to look perfect and impress themselves, these sudden changes to look the perfect version of one has made the youth of India over-enthusiastic about their fashion sense and has affected the way in which they hold themselves. These have mostly helped with the development of body image issues early among teenagers and have often led to depression and anxiety as people find it impossible to maintain and go along with the fashion trends of today.

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Responding to a recent fashion show that was held in Jammu and Kashmir to provide a platform to youngsters to showcase their fashion and elegance, Syed Ali Asgar Razvi, an entrepreneur and an Ex-model himself, expresses his concern over the changing trends in the way of dressing with respect to the recent times. He says, “I have been watching the fashion trends flashing before my eyes every now and then for the past few years. The way in which it has influenced the minds of the youth is unbelievable. It’s almost as if they want them to be perfect in every way, even though they themselves know it’s practically impossible. They’re often brought to the brink of anxiety and pain because of the struggle and efforts to look perfect and meet the ideal beauty standard of the west.”

Observing “The Kashmir Fashion Show” that was organised on 13th April at the Sheri Kashmir International Convention Centre (SKICC) in Srinagar, he adds that, “Although modernisation can prove to be very advancing at various levels, for us it can also be highly damaging to our mental health and self-esteem. With all the western standards influencing every beauty criteria, we often forget to embrace our culture that we have taken along with us for years. Although there are Indo-western styles that rule the market, most fashion shows promote westernised beauty standards that almost expect everything to be performed in the perfect way.”

With these aspects of fashion that might ruin the generation of young minds and increase their insecurities, Syed Ali Asgar Razvi feels that along with the modernisation of beauty standards, it should be made to feel normal about the imperfections of the human body. Models should embrace their beauty spots, freckles, pimples, hair fall and anything that sways away from the perfect model of beauty. People must be allowed to relax around fashion and be encouraged to feel free and proud in their own skin. Syed Ali adds, “With this mode of embracing the culture and imperfections amongst the youth, we will be able to produce a generation who will be proud of themselves and their body no matter what colour they’re born in, their dressing, their standard of living and most importantly will learn to flaunt their flaws.”

Syed Ali Asgar Razvi has been taking part in campaigns of similar kinds in order to improve the quality of thinking among the people in our society. He runs a company, RCF Multiventure Pvt Ltd, which deals with the wholesale and distribution of FMCG.