NOT YOUR ANGEL

Does a brand makeover guarantee relevance? We find out

- BARRY RODGERS

While backstage at her first fashion show for an intimate-wear label that caters to plus-size women, in 2019, a then-nervous Alefiya Jane couldn’t drown out the voices in her head despite Dua Lipa’s One Kiss blaring on the loudspeaker out front. Modelling lingerie may have been new for the 35-year-old Mumbai resident, but the feeling of self-doubt wasn’t. Before learning self-love much later in life, growing up, Jane would pull and poke every part of her body wishing it was different, and then thought buying a Victoria’s Secret Bombshell Bra would make her feel better. “How good is capitalism, right? The system makes you hate yourself so much that you go and buy something that doesn’t even make you feel better. Mind you, they didn’t even have my size when I went to buy one of those rock-hard bras,” she tells me.