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\nNeha Bhatt has spent the past four years building a modeling presence alongside a career in corporate strategy. She heads to Harvard Business School this fall. This project explores the confluence of South Asian and Western aesthetics and design. We spoke to her about the project, and the through-lines in her own life that inspired it.<\/p>\n\n
NEHA BHATT: A lot of what you see in these photos is a reflection of my own experiences switching back and forth between South Asian and \u201cWestern\u201d attire depending on what occasion I\u2019m dressing for. Fusion has become so big in fashion, with elements from Indian design making their way into Western garments and trend cycles in the past few years. We wanted to play around with that idea and see how the convergence of accessories and styling across cultures and eras could create visuals that feel new and reimagined. We made some deliberate choices to that effect, like shooting the lehenga look in front of distressed, old-world Parisian-style plastering. The weathered backdrop is a departure from the typical opulence you tend to see ornate Indian garments contextualized within. This is also how makeup artist Saiana Dagbazhalsanova approached the makeup look \u2013 it\u2019s really subtle and natural, as opposed to being full bridal glam.<\/p>\n
NEHA BHATT: To me, gold evokes ideas of heritage and connection to the past. Most of the gold jewelry I wear day-to-day are pieces that were passed down to me from my family in India. The rings I\u2019m wearing in the photos were my grandma\u2019s \u2013 she got them from a tiny storefront in Delhi belonging to a \u201csunar\u201d (goldsmith). In a world of fast fashion and mass production, these rings tie me to craftsmen who are preserving the art of careful, custom creation.<\/p>\n
Stylist Anastasiya Gulak used this idea to create connective tissue between heritage and modern luxury across the two looks. She was inspired to mirror the richness of the lehenga with a pantsuit that experimented with draping and gold accents inside a classic Western silhouette. And the gold earrings honor legacy designer brands while introducing a more minimalist flavor to the looks.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kill2.mmmaq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/HBZVN-NEHA-BHATT-5N.jpg\")
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NEHA BHATT: I think it comes back to the duality theme. New York City to me looks mostly like the concrete jungle everyone thinks of, but then there are certain buildings that harken back to Neoclassical or Art Deco architecture. For instance, we shot the pantsuit look at the Brooklyn Public Library, which was constructed in the Art Deco style. For the most part, the building looks stripped down and structured with its plain limestone and sharp edges; we wanted something more severe to contrast the soft warmth of the lehenga look. But then it also has these incredible, gilded entrance doors that feel reminiscent of the intricacy and bold color of ancient Indian palaces (which Art Deco draws some inspiration from). It\u2019s just a perfect encapsulation of how cultures meld together and lead to really interesting fusion.<\/p>\n
And of course, there\u2019s also the fact that New York is where I\u2019ve done most of my modeling. I started modeling four years ago now with no connections in the industry. At first, it was a lot of blindly casting a wide net. I would travel to New York City multiple times a month to attend casting calls, and eventually I started to run into the same people and develop a real network of creatives. For instance, I met photographer W. Eric Snell during a season of NYFW, and he\u2019s become one of my favorite collaborators. He actually grew up in Brooklyn, and our planning for this shoot was informed by his knowledge of the area and where to place this concept. He had us shoot at the Grand Army Plaza, across the street from the library, during midday. In those shots, he used the sunlight to backlight me and create shadowing that amped up the contrast and sharpness of the pantsuit look.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kill2.mmmaq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/HBZVN-NEHA-BHATT-3N.jpg\")
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NEHA BHATT: Honestly, there was way more synergy than I would have expected. I\u2019ve worked in corporate reputation and strategy since graduating college, and most of my work has involved understanding large brands, how they are perceived by people, and how to maintain or improve their perception, in service of the company\u2019s goals. As a result, I\u2019ve had the opportunity to shape how brands present themselves to the world, how they communicate, what and who they focus on. At some point, I realized that my modeling trajectory was similar, but on a much smaller scale. Given that I was starting from scratch to establish myself as a model, a lot of what I was doing was developing and branding myself into a compelling muse. And I\u2019ve had the opportunity to observe and work with emerging designers and small clothing brands that are doing much of the same \u2013 figuring out how to get their products noticed by the right audiences is ultimately a corporate strategy exercise.<\/p>\n
I\u2019ve spent my whole life being caught between competing, disparate interests. As a kid, I was a huge STEM nerd, but I was also deeply passionate about music and have been singing and performing since childhood. There was a point when I worried about falling into the \u201cjack of all trades\u201d rut. It\u2019s true that having a singular focus makes how you manage your time and distribute your energy a bit more straightforward and efficient; you\u2019d probably be more likely to become the \u201cbest\u201d at something. But efficiency, output, and preeminence are not everything. We can experience so much growth simply through the process of trying new things and getting even a little better at them over time \u2013 our brains need to be challenged in order to maintain their plasticity. And that sort of cross-pollination is also how you stumble upon areas of overlap across passions, like the ones I have observed between modeling and my career.<\/p>\n
NEHA BHATT: Absolutely. At baseline, there\u2019s just the general chaos and sleep deprivation that tends to come alongside working a day job and maintaining a very active passion pursuit on the side. There were also times when I felt discouraged \u2013 any model can attest that for every cool show or shoot you secure, there are rejections that really make you question whether you have what it takes to inspire people with your look. As I\u2019ve gotten older, I\u2019ve found myself naturally gravitating away from chasing validation and towards trying to develop relationships and create images that feel meaningful. This editorial exists as a product of that mindset \u2013 the result of a group of creatives wanting to bring a concept to life.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/kill2.mmmaq.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/06\/HBZVN-NEHA-BHATT-4N.jpg\")
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NEHA BHATT: I\u2019m actually taking a break from work for a bit to go back to being a student \u2013 I\u2019ll be at Harvard Business School starting this fall. It\u2019s definitely going to be a change of pace, but I think I\u2019ll be able to synthesize a lot of what I\u2019ve been thinking about and working on for the past few years. I expect that fashion could show up in a number of ways. I\u2019m excited to meet and learn from classmates who have their own perspectives on fashion and identity. There is also a lot of cool innovation happening in fashion right now; the fashion tech space is generating so many possibilities for how fashion can be more customizable, sustainable, and experimental, and business school will be a great environment to get exposure to ventures that are on the cutting edge of that.<\/p>\n
I would say it was when Saiana put the finishing touches on the first makeup look, and I stepped into the lehenga. Depending on how they\u2019re constructed, lehengas can be super heavy, and this one was no exception. In some ways, the heft of the skirt felt like a reflection of how important this project was to us. But then as Eric started taking photos, we got into a groove, and I felt like I could embody the flowy, light femininity of the dress too. I remember we were listening to songs by June Freedom, an Afro-Latin dance-pop singer, as we shot. Eventually, the melange of influences we had at play \u2013 from music, to wardrobe, to atmosphere, to people \u2013 just aligned and clicked.<\/p>\n