Who Is Saisha Shinde? Fashion Designer Who Came Out As Transwoman

Bollywood fashion designer Saisha Shinde took to Instagram to share that she identifies as a transwoman. In her coming-out post, she explained that her new name ‘Saisha’ means a meaningful life and she plans to make hers and exceptionally meaningful one. She wrote that she accepted her transgender identity six years ago. “It was only six years ago that I finally accepted to myself, and today that I accept to you. I’m not a gay man. I am a transwoman,” she wrote. She also talked about the pain she suffered when boys in her school and college used to bully her. She said, "I had to stage everything because of societal expectations and norms." 

 

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Here are five things to know about her: 

• Saisha Shinde is a graduate from National Institute of Fashion Technology(NIFT). In her Instagram post, the designer shared that it was during her time in NIFT that she started to accept her identity. She later went on to do an internship at House of Versace in Italy.
• She was once the runner up at a reality television show, Lakme Fashion House. 
• She designed the iconic costumes worn by the cast of famous Bollywood movie Fashion directed by Madhur Bhandarkar. The films won two National Awards in 2010.
• She started her own brand with her name as the label in 2007. 
• Over the years, she has designed costumes for many Bollywood celebrities including big names such as Kareena Kapoor, Deepika Padukone, Sunny Leone, Priyanka Chopra, Shraddha Kapoor, Kiara Advani and many others.  

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