The Pop Style Playbook

From Jonita Gandhi to Diljit Dosanjh, Indian pop stars are ditching the dated bodysuit for something far more interesting

- ANANYA SHANKAR

Back in 2011, The Guardian ran a piece marvelling at how outrageously pop stars — Lady Gaga in particular — were dressing at the time.

It positioned her theatrics as a radical departure from the eras of Britney Spears and Madonna, and posed a cheeky question just below the headline: How much more bizarre can their outfits get?

As it turns out, not much.

International female pop stars today — Sabrina Carpenter, Taylor Swift, Olivia Rodrigo — largely stick to a uniform of glittering bodysuits with thigh-high boots. Even veterans like Shakira, Jennifer Lopez and Beyoncé have gravitated toward the same silhouette. All the better to stomp around on stage with.

Indian pop, however, is telling a very different story. From Jonita Gandhi and Jasleen Royal to Diljit Dosanjh, Anuv Jain, AP Dhillon and Karan Aujla, there is no singular look to conform to. Instead, there is experimentation, individuality, and a refreshing refusal to dress for global palatability.

Clothes may not make the man — or the woman — but in pop culture, fashion has always created the icon.

Team Effort

The same Guardian article also made note of the fact that in the early 2000s, musicians typically aligned themselves with designers who shared their aesthetics. By the 2010s, however, that changed. For instance, when Giorgio Armani dressed Lady Gaga for the 2010 Grammy Awards, it felt less like Gaga adapting to Armani’s language and more like the designer stepping outside his own.