When I spoke to her last in 2019, she had seven tattoos and short, blue-coloured hair. Today, she has 11 tattoos and long platinum ombre hair. “I am not 25 anymore, I am 37. I needed my hair to look 37, but not like I’m going for a kitty party,” she says. After recently clocking 100k followers on her Instagram profile, Kayaan Shiraz Contractor remains one of the first fashion influencers (read content creators as she hates being called an influencer) to marry effortlessness with luxury. Beginning her journey in 2017 with her blog, shapeshifter.in, Contractor today has come a long way. She was recently featured in Grey Goose Vive Le Voyage ‘The Creators’, a series by VICE where she created her first clothing line, étant (meaning being) under the guidance of designer Gaurav Gupta. “It was a mini line that was gender agnostic and gender fluid. I just wanted to create something where everybody was welcome. However, I haven’t launched it yet as a brand, I would love to do it soon,” she says.
In a candid conversation with us, she talks about the change in her aesthetics, the Indian fashion industry and in the social media influencer space over the years. “Evolution is inevitable. I wouldn’t believe somebody that says that their style hasn’t changed. My style has changed over the years. The reason for calling my company shapeshifter is because it’s ever evolving. My clothing has just evolved into a more age-appropriate and comfortable situation,” she says. Talking about the new “influencers,” she says there is a lovely shift from just fashion to a combination of fashion and humour. “We’re getting old, and a slew of new people are taking over, and I think that’s completely fine. As I keep saying, there’s space for everyone. I’m loving some of the new people; they keep it fashion, but it’s comic as well. I think that’s really cool. You can’t be serious all the time. We have evolved from that,” she says.
When asked about her views on the launch of new designers each year and whether we’re presenting the old wine in a new bottle, she says, “I’ll be very honest, I haven’t gone for a fashion week in years and maybe part of the reason why is because I thought that I’d be seeing the same thing again. However, if I’m here this season, I would love to go and stand corrected,” adding, “It takes a lot of time, effort, money, tears, sweat, blood and love to get into the fashion design space. It’s difficult to have your USP and branding. It’s hard work, so I applaud everyone that is coming into the space now, especially the young ones.”
While concluding, she talks about the aim she began her journey with vs now. “The aim was and is to create beautiful images that one would remember even after I’m gone. It’s not about the numbers or about how many people love me. I just want to leave a powerful image behind that I was a part of. This is me,” she signs out.
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