Karan Kaur: Sikh fashionista ‘dresses modestly, yet fashionably’

By Alison Lesley --
26 Dec 2014 --

Karan Kaur took the Sikh Faith into the Fashion World. A 20-year-old Australian student has found the balance between her Punjabi morals and tradition, and her passion for fashion.

Spurred on by family and friends who said she still “dresses modestly, yet fashionably,” she took the plunge and created an Instagram account called Style with Kaur. Little did she know that in the following months, she would be sparking a new fashion trend around the globe. As of today, she has over 8,000 followers and the numbers are only climbing.

She has been passionate about fashion from a young age, and when she began wearing her turban, she found it to be a part of her identity. She to SBS Radio’s Punjabi program all about it in an interview. “You’ve got your Punjabi morals and values and covering your hair and what not,” she says, “but what I want to do is mix the Punjabi and Australian culture together, and also religion, and saying that it’s okay to wear the turban and still be modest and still live in the Western society norm and still have the Sikhism touch as well.”

Australian Daily Telegraph Kaur @StyleWithKaur via @KhalSir http://t.co/Ed0aKR5xAr #Kaur #Sikh pic.twitter.com/ra9R12Wulw
— Look! A Singh! (@LookASingh) November 13, 2014

Kaur Life had a recent interview with Ms. Kaur, in which she spoke of empowering others, bringing a deeper equality to men and women while ensuring religion and self-expression can be together. When she began wearing her dastaar, or turban, she “became a walking advertisement for Sikhism, I wanted to wear clothing that didn’t just represent myself, but my religion as well.” She never expected to inspire so many people, yet “the positive response has been overwhelming and overshadows the negative. I will forever be grateful for all the immense love and support I have received…when I receive such emails, I feel so blessed my page is actually impacting a lot of girls without me even preaching.”

rainy|gloomy~days in Sydney #stylewithkaur
A photo posted by Karan Kaur (@stylewithkaur) on Dec 12, 2014 at 6:05am PST

This inspired young woman is currently preparing to study fashion next year and aims to create a website for other Sikh women to wear the turban. She even hopes to one day create a line of Sikh apparel that combine modern styles with traditional values.