Heart mehndi, heart tikkas, heart chokers adorn the Pinterest boards of desi girls worldwide. With Eid having just passed, Instagram has been flooded with South Asian brands highlighting their heart-embellished women’s accessories and clothing. Generation released a set of Hyderabadi chooriyan and shalwars embedded with the tiniest pink hearts, while bespoke fashion embellished with hearts takes form in the walls of Studio Dilbar.
A spunkier approach is taken by western wear focused brands like Bodjunk and Raa-ay with chrome ridged heart bags and rings and motif-ed pockets. This brings to light the fact that this aesthetic isn’t just restricted to the traditional clothing.
While works like Raa-ay or Studio Dilbar’s aren’t hetronormative and restricted to women, there is something about this adorned shape that encapsulates womanhood, particularly Pakistani womanhood.
But is this rise just another capitalist attempt to commodify and incentivise women’s interests and feelings?
Living in the stiffly patriarchal society of Pakistan, women are most often designated hobbies and lifestyles, a popular one being fashion. A fairly respectable and accepted interest for a woman, defined by her endless trips to the darzi and crowded markets, picking the perfect lace and selecting the finest cloth. Hence, fashion is almost intrinsic to most women’s identities in Pakistan. Yet, the same society deems this as a menial existence.
As a culture that has set out to reduce women in every single way, their hobbies are seen as lowly interests, and women’s clothing holds no deeper meaning or significance to society. The rise of the “girlhood” aesthetic in our fashion spaces counters this notion. Fashion has always been a uniting sisterhood for women. From the Marina Khans’s boy cut in the 90’s in Dhoop Kinare or the tightly fitted teddys of the 60s, rebellion makes its way to the mainstream.
Thus, the heart has become a soft symbol of this soft rebellion. This rebellion doesn’t seek to tear down the years of oppressive patriarchy but rather is something more gentle and tender. With more women enjoying traditional feminine trinkets like jhumkas, khussay and the colour pink, it stands to argue that rebellion is not just to go against the status quo but rather a softer rebellion exists in finding joy under a system that actively fights against you, to put you down. The bigger fight comes after.
The humble heart aims to simply be a source of joy and sisterhood. It decentralises the patriarchy entirely and only sets out to be an expression of self for the woman and her sisters. Our fashion holds meaning because it unites us, which defines it as a significant driving force of society.
April 22, 2025