VAULT takes South Asian fashion onto the streets of Covent Garden, where heritage dressing is loosened, layered and reimagined through a distinctly contemporary London lens.
THE PROJECT
The New Bohemian was conceived by VAULT around the idea of freedom in dressing: taking the richness and craftsmanship of South Asian fashion and allowing it to exist outside the conventions of weddings, celebrations and traditional occasionwear.
Shot across Covent Garden, London, the story brings ornate fashion and jewellery by Arinder Bhullar into an everyday city environment. Embroidered skirts sweep across cobblestones, traditional jewellery is layered with contemporary accessories, a white shirt replaces the expected blouse and fluid menswear is worn with an ease that feels deliberately removed from ceremony.
Rather than interpreting bohemia through its familiar Western references, VAULT looked towards its underlying attitude - individuality, eclecticism and the freedom to bring seemingly unrelated influences together. South Asian heritage, vintage references and contemporary London style are allowed to coexist without any one element having to lose its identity.
For VAULT, the project provided an opportunity to create a complete fashion story around its talent while placing the models in an environment that demanded more than conventional posing. The streets became part of the creative brief, asking each model to respond to movement, changing surroundings and one another while maintaining the character of the fashion.
THE TALENT
VAULT cast Allysa T, Athasia T and Kae D, bringing together three contrasting model identities to interpret different expressions of the same bohemian world.
Allysa's richly coloured embroidered skirt is deliberately disrupted by a knotted white shirt, printed headscarf and narrow sunglasses. The juxtaposition called for an attitude quite different from traditional occasionwear: confident and feminine, but with an irreverence that allowed the grandeur of the garment to feel unexpectedly effortless.
Athasia brings a softer expression to the story. Her floral look is layered with statement jewellery, a leather belt, structured bag, sunglasses and a folding fan, requiring her to navigate several styling elements without allowing them to overwhelm her presence. Her strongest frames rely on subtle gesture and character rather than conventional beauty posing.
Kae completes the trio in fluid neutral tailoring, worn open at the neckline with traditional jewellery. The softness of the silhouette offered an opportunity to explore a less rigid expression of menswear, where ease, adornment and sensuality replace the more conventional masculine codes often associated with South Asian formal dressing.
Individually, each model was given a distinct character. Together, they were required to understand something equally important: how to create chemistry within a frame. Whether walking through Covent Garden or squeezed into the back of a black cab surrounded by embroidered fabric, the group imagery relies on interaction rather than three models simply posing alongside one another.
THE VAULT DIRECTION
Under the Creative Direction of Mirza Miah, The New Bohemian was built around the tension between heritage and spontaneity. The intention was never to modernise South Asian fashion by stripping it back, but to show how differently it could be perceived when the rules surrounding its styling were loosened.
Shiv Rura's styling takes the fashion and jewellery by Arinder Bhullar and places it into an unexpected wardrobe. Traditional pieces meet shirting, leather accessories, scarves and retro-inspired sunglasses, creating looks that feel assembled through personality rather than prescribed as complete sets.
Lima Artistry's hair and makeup carries that philosophy into the beauty direction, retaining the glamour needed to complement statement fashion and jewellery while allowing the overall finish to feel more character-led than conventionally bridal.
VAULT's model direction focused particularly on movement, expression, interaction and environmental awareness. Shooting on location meant the models had to continually adapt: working around pedestrians, confined spaces, changing light, street furniture and the natural interruptions of central London while remaining conscious of the garments and the image being created.
Photography and videography by Canali Productions captured that balance between polished fashion imagery and moments that feel more immediate – as though the three characters simply happened to be moving through the city dressed this way.
THE OUTCOME
The finished story demonstrates how model development can exist naturally within the creation of credible fashion imagery.
For Allysa, Athasia and Kae, The New Bohemian provided an opportunity to work with statement garments and jewellery while developing skills that extend beyond straightforward portfolio posing: character, movement, group chemistry, location awareness and the ability to respond when a carefully controlled studio environment is removed.
The resulting imagery also broadens the way each model can be presented to prospective clients. Alongside polished portraits and full-length fashion frames sit more spontaneous images, group compositions, lifestyle-led moments and moving content – demonstrating not simply how the models look, but how they can adapt to a creative brief.
For VAULT, The New Bohemian reflects the relationship between talent development and creative direction at the heart of the agency's approach. Development is not treated as something that happens separately from the finished work. By bringing models together with experienced creatives, considered styling and a clear visual concept, the process of creating the work becomes part of developing the talent itself.
The result is a fashion story with its own identity, while giving the models involved the experience and imagery to take into the next opportunity.
-
Fashion & Jewellery: Arinder Bhullar
Creative Direction: Mirza Miah
Styling: Shiv Rura
Hair & Makeup: Lima Artistry
Photography & Videography: Canali Productions
Models: Allysa T · Athasia T · Kae D
Location: Covent Garden, London
Production: VAULT