That’s a Wrap

By: Rida Talpur
It’s said that people can’t have the best of both worlds. For Dr. Parambir Keila, wearing a turban never got in the way of his style. In fact, it is his style.
Keila, 34, is a physician turned fashion enthusiast – turned model. He is getting the best of all worlds, and he’s doing it his own way.
His love for fashion started 10 years ago when he met fellow fashion buff, and now wife, Anjila Patel. Eight years before that, he decided to take the leap and express his culture and religious views in a way done by many of his ancestors before him, and started wearing the turban.
Turbans are considerably taboo in the fashion world for many reasons- potentially a lack of understanding of its cultural significance, or perhaps the public’s reluctance to embrace who Keila says are people that are “visibly different.”
In 2011, Stats Canada reported that residents who identify as Sikh, like Keila, made up 1.4 per cent of Canada’s population (around 483,000 people). That number has probably risen by now, not to mention that people in the Sikh faith are not the only people that wear turbans. It is as much a cultural accessory as it is a religious one, and many people from Pakistan and India alone wear the turban for many different reasons and in many different ways.
Unfortunately, the turban doesn’t always draw the best kind of attention. “People redirect their anger at people who may look like me. Sometimes, you just gotta say ‘Shut up’,” Keila says . He adds that more than the number of people that dislike his turban, he gets more people who are interested by it and ask questions . It has the ability to draw positive attention as well: by South Asians and non-South Asians alike.
In his time at the University of Waterloo, everyone recognized him as the man that wore a turban. That’s how he learned the turban can be used as an identifier; a marketing tool as something that makes him unique- especially in the fashion industry.
The ratio of people of the Sikh faith, or others that may wear a turban, is not evident on the runways or in fashion advertisements, a marketing blunder if you ask Maz Ali. Ali is currently a real estate agent, but has been involved in the marketing of companies such as Bell, Rogers and Techbuzz as well. “The equation is simple, actually. If you start advertising and appealing to people of different ethnic backgrounds, and show the symbols of those backgrounds, such as the turban or hijab, you will get more consumers who wear those symbols or who understand what they mean consuming your product,” Ali says.
Holt Renfrew certainly took the hint, and decided to represent the diversity in Toronto, and in all of Canada. They created the All Together campaign. The campaign lives up to its name, illustrating people of all backgrounds, ages, and genders. It brings together 16 diverse fashion-lovers from all around Canada and got them to share their perceptions on individuality. Alison Simpson, Holt Renfrew’s Senior Vice President of Marketing and Customer Experience, says that the campaign is about turning the fashion lens to the community. “The campaign is about ‘we’ and not ‘me’ – it’s about celebrating the communities in which we work and live,” she says.
Keila is very excited to be modeling for Holt’s. He describes modeling as an awkward but fun experience. “You just have to be yourself, and that’s how you enjoy it,” Keila says.
Keila’s style is unmistakable: Cool and expensive. He looks classy, and pairs a classic black blazer and patterned button-down shirt with a pair of jeans and his signature black turban- a highly conventional and chic appearance to compliment his style and relaxed demeanor. He says he always takes care of his things, including his turban. His biggest style inspiration? His grandfather. Through him, Keila felt encouraged to look put together and do his best in all things.
Keila has modeled for designer Klaxon Howl in two Toronto Fashion Week shows in 2014. Soon after, he and his stylish wife were contacted by Holt Renfrew for the Holts Muse campaign, and again for the All Together campaign. He has been in smaller catalogue ads as well, but has decided to consider fashion as his hobby, and would never truly pursue it as a career.
Keila thinks the decisions he makes related to fashion is important as a man who wears a turban because he has become one of the pioneer turban-wearing models in Toronto, and Canada. The designers he consumes the most are people that advocate for a greater level of diversity. Perhaps he isn’t a model by job-description, but he models for the fashion industry, and he’s clearly good at it.
Blaire Borins, Public Relations Manager at Holt Renfrew was ecstatic to be working with Keila and his wife. “They are incredibly stylish, insanely smart, interesting and just all around awesome people,” she says.
Keila loves that the turban opens up conversation, something he is ready to do. The lack of ethnic representation in fashion is something that is currently being discussed amongst fashion critics. “If I can be a small peg in that wheel of change, I’ll welcome it,” Keila says.