Fashion activist, Aishwarya Sharma, 24, recently joined a campaign run by UN and #TOGETHERBAND that aims to raise a voice against inequalities in society. All the money generated from this campaign will be used to help COVID-19 affected areas.
In a conversation with The Morning Standard, she informs that 50 per cent of the funds raised will go to COVID-19 Response Funds, “split equally between UN COVID-19 Solidarity Fund for WHO and Médecins sans Frontières, and the remaining 50 per cent of the funds will go to the life-changing programmes addressing the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals that are critical to our planet’s future.”
In her college days, Sharma started a blog called Figuramoda after noticing that fashion has a huge scope for social activism.
“Fashion in our country was looked as something ‘frivolous’. On the contrary, it elevated me on my toughest days. The breakthrough point for me was when the acid attack survivor, Laxmi, walked the ramp at London Fashion Week in 2016.” Sharma calls fashion a mass medium.
“Across the world, demonstrations have taken place using fashion. I have built a space of fashion activism, where fashion plays a key role in bringing these social issues to the forefront. No doubt, it has been complex because people don’t expect fashion bloggers to voice their opinions. I am here to change that notion and fight that stereotype.”
Since then, Sharma has worked with dozens of NGO’s like Stop Acid Attacks, Help Age India, Water Aid, Save Rural India, Domestic Violence Relief and Rehabilitation programmes. Impressively, Sharma has also worked extensively on promoting gender equality as well.
She says, “I have been associated with the young girls at Amari Foundation in the districts of Himachal Pradesh and Haryana. We have done on-ground awareness drives in the schools here and distributed yearly kits of sanitary pads. On an individual level, I have pledged to contribute five per cent of sales through my e-commerce fashion platform MODDOTCOM to the young girls at Amari Foundation.”
She further adds, “With Chaanv Foundation there was three-year long association with the NGO to bring awareness on acid sale and violence towards women and young girls in India. Projects like #FlowersNotScars got over 100K views and impressions in a day, which was a result and impact of the awareness we have created and continue to.”
Recently, Sharma created an Instagram Filter on gender equality and feminism to engage global celebrities, bloggers, influencers in focusing on inequalities towards women in India and the world. The filter has already crossed 200K impressions.
In a nutshell
Fashion activist Aishwarya Sharma, 24, who runs Figuramoda, has worked with dozens of NGOs like Stop Acid Attacks, Help Age India, Water Aid, Save Rural India, Domestic Violence Relief and Rehabilitation programmes. Impressively, Sharma has also worked extensively on promoting gender equality as well.