Meet Saisha Shinde, the transwoman who designed Harnaaz Sandhu's Miss Universe gown

After a 21-year-long wait since Lara Dutta’s win in 2000, Chandigarh-born actor and model Harnaaz Sandhu has been crowned Miss Universe on Monday (13 December). During the final round of her pageant, the 21-year-old winner wore a gown that was designed by Saisha Shinde, formerly Swapnil Shinde. Shinde is a fashion designer who came out as transgender at the start of this year. For the grand finale that was held at the Universe Dome in Eilat, Israel, Sandhu wore a stunning silver gown that came with a plunging neckline and was made with beaded embellishments. “We did it,” Shinde wrote in an Instagram post soon after the news of the big win made headlines. In her post, Shinde also shared an image of the newly-crowned Miss Universe in the stunning gown. Later in her Instagram stories, Shinde gave a sneak peek into all the hard work that went into preparing the sheer embellished gown for Harnaaz Sandhu. She also shared a note talking about how she found the courage to accept the truth of being a transwoman.

While speaking to News18, Shinde spoke about how she designed the gown for the Miss Universe pageant, adding that for the dress for the reputed pageant, factors like elegance, as well as the dressmaking the contestant look exquisite and delicate were really important. At the same time, looking powerful and strong in the dress was also crucial, Shinde stated to the news outlet. The 40-year-old designer added that since Sandhu believes in sustainability, so they used embroidery material made from materials lying around the studio to embellish the gown with embroidery, stones, and sequins. Prior to this, Shinde has earlier designed glamorous outfits for celebrities including Priyanka Chopra Jones, Deepika Padukone, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Anushka Sharma, Katrina Kaif, Taapsee Pannu, and Madhuri Dixit, among others.