Joy Crookes is a talented UK artist, some of her more popular tracks include: ‘Mother May I Sleep With Danger’, ‘Early’, and ‘Two Nights’.

The neo soul singer- songwriter comes from a Bengali-Irish heritage, and for the 2020 BRIT Awards, she proudly represented her South-Asian roots in a gorgeous traditional lehenga (not a ‘costume’ or ‘dress’ as some articles and people have referred to it as smh) also styled with traditional jewellery . This is what she wore below:

As you can see from the picture above, Joy Crookes absolutely SLAYED the BRIT Awards red carpet. But i’m not just here to talk about how great she looked, as this outfit is also something which means a lot to us brown girls who rarely see people who look like us, let alone proudly wear the traditional dress of South-Asian culture, at such events.

In an Instagram post Joy Crookes captioned her Brit Awards outfit “Represent- Brits 2020”, and told the BBC that she chose this particular outfit so “young girls can see someone who looks like their mum, their auntie, their gran on the red carpet at the BRITs”.

This is something I personally, and I’m sure many others, find so imperative to young South-Asian girls growing up. Representation is so important, it’s something that influences the way that people view themselves, their culture, and others. Having an artist such as Joy Crookes, someone from the UK, but also with South-Asian roots, and seeing them on TV at the BRIT awards as a successful and appreciated artist can do so much for someone growing up in a community where majority of those popular in that industry, are black or white. Whether it is something that makes young British-Asians proud to identify with their culture, or show/ inspire them in a way that helps them believe that it is possible for them to also pursue the same/ similar dreams- it displays the huge impact it can have for less/ falsely represented communities.

We need more representation for our culture, and especially more accurate and less stereotypical depictions; people like Joy Crookes and those who have shown support and raved about her outfit are helping actualise this, showing that society is taking a step in the right direction!

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Song recommendation: No Hands by Joy Crookes