Sartorially Sikh

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When 22-year-old literature student and Essex native Pardeep Singh began to post photos of his own outfits on Instagram for fun at the start of this year, little did he know that he would be starting a fashion movement that’s making waves online. Within a month of those early Instagrams, in March, Pardeep launched his blog ‘Singh Street Style: Fashion blog for Singhs’ — which has over 8,000 followers on its Instagram account and added 700 new followers on Facebook in just the first week of June.
The blog visitors are not just wooed by the Sikh community fashion that is presented on it. They also have questions about putting together certain looks and how they might tie their dastars. Pardeep, in an email to The Asian Age says queries about “how I tie my turban and where we get certain items of clothing from” are most common. He intends to start video tutorials soon to meet the requests.
Singh Street Style showcases a sense of style that’s individualistic, aspirational and what’s being called “Sikh-chic”. Pardeep, himself a natty dresser who takes all the photos showcased on the blog, says his own interest in sartorial matters developed when he started university. “I studied in the heart of central London, next to Oxford Street, just by the London College of Fashion. The fashion culture is very strong there and it inspired me. My own style is just a reflection of my personal character. My influences used to be people on the streets in London, now it’s my own friends on the blog who influence me!” Pardeep says.
His blog allows him to not just indulge his passion for fashion, but also photography — which Pardeep has been pursuing professionally and full time since he graduated. The “models” on the blog are Pardeep’s friends, who are only too happy to have their unique style chronicled on it.
“We are all a close knit group of friends, we like to call ourselves a team,” says Pardeep and enlists what he looks for when including someone in a blog post, “As long as they have character, style and personality and stand out from the crowd, they’re in! Looking as outrageous as possible is a bonus!”
Pardeep believes that platforms that chronicle street style have become popular because “it is the people on the streets that determine the new fashion trends. Earlier, the trends were set by big fashion brands.”
As for the future, Pardeep has big plans for the blog. “Our plan is just to continue spreading a positive light for the Sikh community!” he says.