On Moving Culture Forward: In Conversation with Reva Bhatt

Reva Bhatt is a Creative Consultant and Stylist based in New York & LA.

Reva met me at a chic hotel lobby cafe on a sunny Los Angeles afternoon. Her energy was upbeat and friendly – dressed from top to bottom in a fashionable two-piece set with tasteful earrings and her hair slicked back. I felt lucky that she made time for me during her busy day.

A confident yet humble woman, Reva is not afraid to speak her mind. She shared intimate moments of her life whilst answering each question with honesty and precision. Truly a breath of fresh air, meet multifaceted creative: Reva Bhatt.

How do you identify?

I’m a multidisciplinary Artist, Stylist, Creative Consultant based in LA/NYC. My work seeks to abstract the narratives through which cross-cultural Brown diasporic life is viewed and understood. My mother is Gujarati + Punjabi, and my father is Garhwali, although I identify more with the term South Asian than Indian. India is the motherland, but I recently found out that my Nani (maternal grandmother) migrated from Lahore after the 1947 Partition, meaning my mom's side of the family is actually from what is now present-day Pakistan. I haven't fully unpacked that. Borders and thus identities were essentially created and distinguished by white men, so sometimes it's hard for me to say that I'm Indian. I think often about partition & identity – particularly the impact on the generations after.

Can you introduce your work as a multifaceted creative? When did you become interested in these fields?

With my work, I seek to challenge and build upon current visual landscapes at the intersection of fashion, art, culture and identity. I’ve worked with quite a lot of musicians like Raveena, Cardi B, Kali Uchis, Normani, Anik Khan, and Raja Kumari in different capacities but typically ranging from music videos to fashion editorials to brand campaigns.

Outside of my music clients, I’ve worked with different brands like HBO Max, Sephora Collection, Rose Inc and Live Tinted to consult as well as create fashion/beauty content. I also started a global event series called ROOTED by and for South Asian creative thinkers, artists and innovators to celebrate and build with one another while directly investing in local businesses and communities. We’ve held intimate events in London, New York and Los Angeles, which have been such incredibly fulfilling experiences. I've been in this space since 2014, and my work has always centred on culture and identity.

Currently, there’s a lot of momentum and interest from brands, as well as society as a whole, for South Asian stories. However, we as a community are still largely misunderstood as a monolithic identity that is, unfortunately, a very North Indian and Hindu perspective. That’s why projects like Ms Marvel, Bridgerton and In Search of Bengali Harlem are so exciting! We need more marginalised voices to get the right funding to be able to scale and share their own nuanced stories because our community is so diverse.

I'm constantly looking for new talent and have realised that it's one of my talents. I'm really good at identifying talented folks through social media and events because that's how I've built my own community - through social media and being present at events.

How has your identity and experience as a South Asian woman influenced your perception of the fashion industry?

Not seeing many South Asian women in creative capacities forced me to create my own path in a lot of ways. There were very few role models or references for what a successful Brown woman in fashion or art looks like in the West, especially growing up. It meant a lot of trial and error - a lot of failures.
It was abundantly clear as the eldest daughter of South Asian immigrants; I had to work much harder to prove that there was room for me in fashion because the people that were already in the industry were mostly White and from wealthy families that could afford to take unpaid opportunities wearing all designer to their internships. I had to figure out how to make very little look extraordinary. That meant a lot of thrifting, buying and returning, and collaborating with other artists on projects with zero budget.

That experience, in tandem with me wanting to focus on identity and culture, made it that much harder to exist and see any sort of tangible success. Talking about identity in 2014, especially South Asian identity that challenged colourism, anti-Blackness and Islamophobia, was not mainstream in the slightest. It wasn’t cool. It was a little bit of social suicide because people thought the small group of people talking about these topics were stirring very far left. Obviously, now, with all the work Black activists have done and with the Black Lives Matter movement being an international, public conversation - the environment is very different. Diversity and Inclusion are key topics today. The work Black artists and activists have done and are doing directly impacts and trickles down to South Asian communities. For how much the fashion industry exploits and extracts and is inspired by Black and Brown cultures, it has a very hard time giving opportunities for Black and Brown creatives to thrive.

Can you name some brands you’re loving at the moment? Favourite places in LA to shop?

Supriya Lele, Rick Owens, Y/Project, Mugler, Jil Sander, and Margiela are some current favourites. I also love emerging brands like Ibrahima Gueye, Ester Manas, and Abarna Kugathasan. My favourite places to shop in LA are Dover Street Market and H Lorenzo because they have an eclectic curation of beautiful pieces.

What do you hope people take away from engaging with your work?

I hope that people see the intention that goes into the work. The best feeling for me is if my work resonates with people and leaves a lasting impact.

With ROOTED, I hope to bring together different folks across the industry and create a sense of creative community that is supportive and uplifting.