Bollywood actress Katrina Kaif has teamed up with the eco-friendly luxury handbag company Behno. With the launch of Katrina, the company has increased its focus on the Indian market. It also honors its Indian manufacturing facilities. Katrina Kaif not only represents the company but also invests in the business.
When addressing the same in an interview with Vogue, Katrina Kaif stated, “When Shivam (founder and creative director of Behno) first reached out to me, I actually knew very little about Behno, and then when I met him in person, he walked me through his vision and how he approaches design, and we instantly clicked.” He mentioned that his approach has always been incremental in how he seeks to work differently in the fashion industry to change how it operates and gradually find like-minded manufacturers and partners that want to be more holistic and ethical, which led me to decide not only to be the face of the brand but also to support it by investing in it.
The brand’s dedication to meaningfully collaborating with Indian artisans truly defines luxury, where sustainable fashion meets great design, something I too look for in a fashion brand, she continued.
In 2013, Shivam Punjya launched Behno to promote sustainability in the fashion industry for the uninitiated in response to the Bangladeshi Rana Plaza tragedy. Shivam said of his relationship with Katrina Kaif, “Katrina is an investor in the company. I strive to be more proud to be an Indian, but I also recognize that I am an outsider in this society. I grew up and was born in California before relocating to New York. I traveled to and spent a lot of time in India as a child. But in the end, I’m still very much an outsider and don’t understand the subtleties. Why not find someone who is global in nature, shares your values, and approaches fashion similarly—that is, in a way that is fun, lively, and appropriately taken seriously? The section on values was crucial to me.
