Priyanka Chopra has spoken about the power of wearing a saree, explaining how it embodies both “elegance” and “femininity”.
On Wednesday, the Indian actor posted an image of herself on Instagram wearing a backless champagne-coloured saree on the front of this month’s InStyle magazine.
In the image’s caption, Chopra made the point that sarees don’t always have to cover a woman’s entire body as some might think.
“Fashion is such an important part of global culture, often arising from centuries of tradition, and doesn’t go out of style when the seasons change,” she wrote.
“The ‘saree’ is one of the most iconic and recognised silhouettes from India. To me, its beauty lies in its versatility, not just in drape and fabric. It embodies elegance, femininity, and power, and I love how I feel when I’m wearing one.”
The 36-year-old added that she felt “proud” to be donning the traditional Indian garment and thanked the publication’s editor-in-chief, Laura Brown, for “sharing some of India’s incredible fashion with the world”.
Speaking to InStyle in an accompanying interview, Chopra explained that sarees are one of her favourite items of clothing but the majority of the ones she sees in mainstream media are a far cry from the garments she grew up seeing.
“My problem is when it comes to Indian fashion, there are always these shiny, sequined, over-the-top Christmas-tree outfits,” she said. “Those are not the saris I wear. I grew up with my mother wearing saris to the hospital, as a doctor. She’d wear these beautiful ones made of French chiffon.
“And the nape of her neck would smell like Dior’s Poison. That, to me, was a modern woman. And that’s what I want to show the world. Indian designers make such incredible clothes that are inspired from beautiful embroidery and patterns.”
Chopra’s saree for the cover was designed by Tarun Tahiliani and features hand-embroidered detail and Swarovski crystals.
The Instagram post garnered more than 1.2 million likes and thousands of comments from fans, including one from Chopra’s husband, Nick Jonas, who posted a series of flame and love-heart-eye emojis.
Chopra spoke to the publication about her relationship with the musician and their often-cited age difference (Jonas is 10 years younger than Chopra), revealing ”people gave us a lot of s*** about that and still do.” But the actor went on to explain that the criticisms she has faced point to a larger societal double standard.
“I find it really amazing when you flip it and the guy is older,” she said, ”no one cares and people actually like it.”
Read the full interview on InStyle here.
