More Than Music: How Punjabi Artists Became Fashion Icons

 

 

 

 

A decade ago punjabi artists were mostly known for the bhangra beats and the wedding season

anthems. Now they’re out here dictating what an entire generation wears down to the rings on

their fingers and the way they tie a turban with a streetwear fit. The music didn’t change that

much honestly it’s still bangers about cars and heartbreak and swag but the visual language

 

 

 

He’s out here mixing kurtas with oversized silhouettes pairing traditional jewelry with sneakers and somehow it never feels like a costume it feels like an actual identity. That’s the part people miss. It’s not cosplay it’s culture being worn with zero apologyThen you got Sidhu Moose wala rest his soul who basically invented a whole uniform for punjabi youth without even trying. The chains the fits the whole gangster meets desi pind aesthetic, kids are still recreating that look years later. That’s not a trend that’s a legacy at this point.

 

 

His style said main character energy before main character energy was even a phrase we used Karan Aujla is out here proving you dont need to try hard to look expensive. Clean fits, understated jewelry, that quiet confidence energy, he’s basically the blueprint for punjabi old

money aesthetic right now. And cheema y is doing something similar but grittier, more street, more that raw pind kid who made it energy, and honestly thats its own lane entirely. Then the whole AP Dhillon Gurinder Gill nav cluster basically built a fashion universe of their own. Oversized jackets, muted earthy tones, that laid back streetwear thing but with just enough desi touch to make it unmistakably punjabi. Its giving old money but make it pind. Sukha’s bringing his own flavor into that too, mixing the sleek minimal fits with just a bit more edge. And gen z ate all of it up because it’s aspirational without being unattainable, you can actually cop pieces that give the same vibe without needing a stylist team.

 

Honestly what’s happening here is punjabi artists figured out something a lot of mainstream fashion brands are still catching up to which is that identity sells harder than trend cycles do. When Diljit wears a look that references his roots he’s not chasing a trend he’s setting one because it’s rooted in something real. Gen z can smell inauthenticity from a mile away and this is

the opposite of that.

 

 

Theres also this whole thing where punjabi fashion used to get flattened into just one aesthetic in mainstream media, think loud colors and bhangra costumes for like a bollywood item number. But these artists are the ones who expanded the vocabulary. Now it’s streetwear, its high fashion, its minimalist, its maximalist, its literally whatever the artist wants it to be while still being unmistakably punjabi. That range is what made it fashion and not just merch. And can we talk about how this is happening on a global stage now. Diljit at met gala, at Coachella, on magazine covers that would’ve never touched punjabi music a few years back. That’s not just an artist blowing up thats an entire culture getting a seat at tables it was locked out of for way too long. Every young punjabi kid seeing that is getting a different message about what their identity can look like on a world stage.

 

At the end of the day this isnt just about clothes obviously. Its about a generation of artists who realised their culture wasnt something to tone down to make it, it was literally the whole selling point. They didnt assimilate into global fashion they made global fashion come to them. And gen z, we’re not just listening to the music were literally dressing like the video came to life

So yeah more than music fr. Its a whole movement and honestly we’re just watching it happen in real time.

 

 

-Devangshu purohit