Tibetan, By Design

Aj Namo, the first Tibetan fashion designer to hit the big time in China, hopes to change Chinese perceptions about Tibet

- Ananth Krishnan

Earlier this year, Aj Namo became the first Tibetan fashion designer selected for China Fashion Week, the country’s biggest fashion show. But when the organisers offered her their models, including some of China’s most well known faces, she declined. Instead, she selected young Tibetans from her hometown of Kangba, a small grassland township in western Sichuan, near Tibet. She also eschewed the customary grand fashion show opening, with bright lights and loud music, that Chinese prefer. Instead, her older sister Kelsang sang a Buddhist prayer.