Designer Mayyur Girotra’s Work Doesn’t Stop When Pride Month Ends

It’s July 3. The rainbow flags are folded away, the hashtags stop trending, and brands quietly retreat from the colourful campaigning they shared for thirty days. For many, Pride is little more than a marketing pit stop. But for Indian designer Mayyur Girotra, it’s the heartbeat of his brand — not a campaign, but a calling.

Best known for his vibrant showcases at NYC Pride in 2023 and 2024 — the first South Asian designer to do so — he’s not just draping models in slogans once a year. His brand carries the weight of lived experience and quiet activism long after the parades have ended.

“I have been closeted most of my life… till my mid-20s,” says the Punjabi designer, candidly. “It was a painful journey, but travelling, working and staying alone helped me discover myself and come out. And also, do what I love.” 

Before fashion, he lived a different life — in wealth management and investment banking — until he finally took the plunge into couture. That decision would eventually lead him to stages few Indian designers have stood on. In fact, in 2022, his New York couture show caught the attention of someone from Google.

“She asked me if I’d like to collaborate on Pride. I laughed — it had been on my mind for a while,” Girotra recalls. “I was already thinking of doing something here, then taking it back home to India.”

The collaboration led to a talk at Google HQ and a Pride runway debut. The following year, he brought his vision to life at Rockefeller Center. This year, even when a major sponsor pulled out at the last minute, Girotra didn’t back down. “We still had a party,” he says with a smile.

But Pride, for him, isn’t confined to one month or one show. “I don’t make noise about it,” he says, as he tells The Hollywood Reporter India what real inclusivity looks like — quiet, consistent and year-round.

Real Vs Performative Inclusivity

Girotra explains that on ground level, he works with queer people from small towns and villages in India. “We have a lot of therapists and doctors on roll with us,” he says, adding that It's not just about fashion for them. “Before doing these shows [like NYC Pride], my friends and I have silently been working with queer people and [understanding] their struggles.”

Similarly, many of his campaigns feature people from the LGBTQIA+ community as well. “Even now, at our show with me and Diya [Mehta Jatia], we had a lot of LGBTQIA+ models walking for us.”

In May 2025, Girotra and creative entrepreneur Mehta Jatia launched The Kadhai Chronicles in New York — a limited-edition collection unveiled through a private showcase. The collaboration was sparked by a wedding they attended.

He continues, “She went through my archives and saw one of the collections I had showcased in Paris for [the festival] Namaste France. There was embroidery on denim. She asked, ‘Why don't we revive this?’ She would do all the silhouettes and I would do the embroideries.”

The collection, featuring denim ghararas and vintage handwoven textiles, was a hit. “That’s why it was called the Kadai Chronicles; bringing together Indian weaves, textiles and embroideries.”

Unlike most designers, Girotra’s never been fixated on fashion weeks. “When I became a designer, I was so crazy about making clothes that I didn't know all of this also had to be done,” he says. “And that worked for me because I did things my way… my brand has a very strong language.

But does it bother him that inclusivity trends only in June?

“Everyone talks about this now, but to be very honest, I still say, at least they’re doing it. Even if they only think about it in June, please do. Because it will bring us close to where we want to reach,” he tells THR India. “This is one month in a year we openly talk and paint the town red.”

But behind the scenes, there’s more. “A lot of people might think we just do a show, but there's a lot more than that… Especially in India, for the LGBTQIA+ community — the unprivileged ones, the ones who are not able to come out. They need therapy, and their parents do too. My mother talks to so many parents [of my team members]. She is so involved now.”

For Girotra, fashion is activism. He believes that when one enters a room, the first thing they see is how one is dressed. And so, he makes pride collections and gender fluid clothing so he can talk about the queer experience through his heart.

“I could have only done social work, but achieving this on a global platform, connecting with people and extending support — that was only possible through my work,” Girotra says.

Celebrity and Sustainability

Mayyur Girotra’s idea of inclusivity extends beyond identity — it includes the planet. For him, sustainability starts with conscious consumption. “It’s about how much you are wearing and reusing it; how consciously you are buying. Over-hoarding is not a thing anymore,” he says.

He’s vocal about resisting the celebrity-fuelled pressure to constantly wear something new. “I tell people, don’t be fooled by this. You know when I initially started coming here [to New York], they used to feel they all buy [everything], but they don’t — not even their shoes.”

Having dressed celebrities from the beginning of his career, Girotra has seen the shift firsthand. It’s the stylists’ game these days, in his opinion. When he started his label, he dressed a lot of celebrities, and it was all about what they wanted. Now, the stylist goes to the celebrity with an idea — and they buy into that. Then, the stylist approaches the designer to source archival pieces or place an order for custom looks.

But one young star he enjoys working with is Sara Ali Khan. “She’s very quirky, fun, loves colours and just knows what she wants. I think people relate to her — she comes across as very natural.” He’s also designed for Suhana Khan, who he deems a very sweet girl. “She's very well brought up. I was impressed because she’s so involved in what she’s wearing — and her mom [Gauri Khan] is too. They’re cool kids.”

As a child, Girotra would collect fashion magazines and scribble his name under the designer credits. His north star? Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla. “I recently met Sandeep in Jaipur and told him that he’s been my silent teacher. I still am obsessed with both of them. I love how they’ve built their brand on values and aesthetics. What they are is in their label."

Well, what Girotra is — inclusive at heart, honest in voice and colourful in spirit — is in his.