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The Stylander

@the.stylander

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A Phygital story-pedia.
IG's cool but it's a tool, not a necessity. We are slow media here.
HQ: @duskdevi.vision

POSTS STORIES REELS

Glimpses of TS OCT.

COVER:
"A self-clicked photo October 2015 (age 44) wearing a 70s dress from Sydney treasure trove @recycology for a vintage editorial.
Artwork by TS Art Director @lee_ohmega
Photo of Sydney Harbour used as background, taken by me the day of the shoot from that helicopter." - Sandhya Nand @duskdevi

SNIPPETS:
1. "I am a big fan of baskets, not just for storage and accessorizing, but also for the stories they carry, tales woven without words. The latter reason stems from growing up on a multicultural island whose indigenous culture views and uses weaving as provincial identifiers and origin markers. Everything current maps back to the past.
[...]
In modern times, in westernised societies, baskets are less necessity and more practical whimsy [...] they also depict the mood of the times... if those times require ease.
A basket always heralds fun, regardless of activity, and makes the body think there's cause to relax, particularly if it has been under stress and duress.
[...]
Trends don't emerge out of nowhere, they are a direct, systemic, pipelined response to the world around us, the planned zeitgeist.... which has left us all fatigued and in dire need of whimsy, softness and fun.
Hence the case for baskets."

2. "SGFW2016's unique selling point was its "all Asian origin" line-up. A mix of international Asian origin designers who had established a name in the brutally competitive, European and American dominated, international fashion arena, and Singaporean born and based designers ready for an international spotlight.
The latter was the major drawcard for me, which is why I included SGFW2016 in my regional fashion coverage for 2016.
[...]
DESIGNERS shown:
@naeemkhannyc
@ongshunmugam
@nidashay
Self Portrait.
(Guo Pei in previous reel) by @the.stylander

GUO PEI.
'Courtyard' opening at Singapore Fashion Week.
October 26th, 2016.

"Held for the first time at the National Gallery, SGFW2016 was opened by Chinese wearable art couturier Guo Pei, who had captured global attention in 2015 when Barbadian star Rihanna wore an opulent bright yellow robe [from Guo Pei's 2010 collection] to the Met Gala, the only one to do justice of the gala's theme that year.

In November 2015, Pei was invited to become a guest member of the Chambre Syndicale de la Haute Couture, making her the first Asian-born designer to receive the invitation and a major drawcard on any stage. Pei showcased her very first collection 'Courtyard' in Paris in January 2016, and this was the collection shown at SGFW, so I was very excited.

Some of the garments from the collection shown at SGFW2016 and glimpsed here [and shown in full in the SGFW2016 SUPPLEMENT] are currently on display at the China Silk Museum @cnsilkmuseum in Beijing, for their 'Garden of Ethereal Realms: Guo Pei Costume Art' Exhibition, "a retrospective examining four decades of work by Chinese haute couture designer Guo Pei".

Words & images - Sandhya Nand @duskdevi

Full SGFW2016 Retro Runway gallery and story in magazine.
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. by @the.stylander

The WANDERER.
A phygital ode to contemporary PNG arts.
2016 - 2023

All images by @duskdevi.vision
Link in bio.
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. by @the.stylander

TS SEPTEMBER 2026.

Welcome to our new format. And (back to) the future.
www.thestylander.com
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. by @the.stylander

TS SEP 2026: PURPLE REIGN

Fashion is a form of time travel.
No need to use artificial means to look like you're living in the 80s. Use your human imagination and dress the part.

In this shoot styled on the fly by me with purple pieces from my wardrobe, I imagine what 55 year old me would be wearing in the 5 decades of my existence.

Photographed and filmed by Lee Ohmega.

"70s.
Sure disco would have looked hotter but this cool and comfortable, Earth Sister style is more my current vibe.
I purchased this dre....."

FULL EDITORIAL AND STORY IN MAGAZINE.
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. by @the.stylander

TS September 2026.

PURPLE REIGN through the ages, why go fake when fashion is a form of time travel? To look 80s, you should dress 80s. Etc.
TS also travels back in time to Nepal and PNG with archive articles and images showcasing their cultures and their modern lives
...and then there's the Ageing "issue".
Why is it an issue when it's inevitable?

"mature models" are "trending" again. Simply because it's profitable.Triggers my cynical eyebrow.
I've been seeing that headline since I was 30 [25 years ago] and back then 30 was considered "mature" aka "over the hill" and... I am Brown in a Euro construct.
"diversity" hadn't been invented yet.

I have never had a problem with getting older, especially not physically, despite being in and celebrated in visual industries since my teens.
I didn't suddenly jump on a bandwagon at the first wrinkle, I'm not now "pro" ageing just because I am old.
I have been pro ageing since I was born.
It's a hill I will die on.

I have used my 37 year public facing career in media and fashion mindfully, everything I did, everything I do, I do with a breaking stereotypes mindset.
I started modelling at 18.

At 55 I am a trailblazer.

_____________________________

📷 & 🎥 @lee_ohmega

READ MORE in TS SEPTEMBER 2026
Plus...
Publisher's Log
Powerhouse of Cards
Disclosing the Pine Gap
Other cool hot things
Welcome to the new age btw ..
. by @the.stylander

Just a touch of love... ✨️✨️ by @the.stylander

FLASHBACK to... 2015 and 2025 shoots featuring top kaiViti-Australian model Reijeli Maraiwai.

Feb 2015: editorial for a regional magazine, showcasing Fiji designer Rfx.

June 2025: editorial for the TS Jun25 issue, showing vintage and retro pieces for @shoperahouse

📷 @duskdevi.vision
Location: Sydney (both)

SONG: 'Brickhouse' by Commodores [1977].

ICYDK: "brickhouse" is [Black American] slang for a mighty fine Woman. The etymology history is fascinating. It was coined and penned by the wife of one of the Commodores...

MORE on The Riff in "Reel Life Songs" @thelivesofourdays
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. by @the.stylander

COVER: photo of me from an exhibition shoot 1998 (27), by Isabelle Meslet-Dina.
[Read about her in STARLIGHT on TS].

I asked* Google, the undisputed king of everyone's nosiness;
"Do you know who Sandhya Dusk Devi Nand is?"

Google says very nice things about me. Even taking into account my "dissidence". Haha. FFS.
Also kindly explained to me why I am not world "famous" despite being known, touches on my "controversial" conviction if not toeing someone else's line.
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*There was a traffic surge to my bio on my magazine's site so I was curious.
I have lived long enough to have gone in and out of fashion... and the winds have changed again...
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. by @the.stylander

THE STYLANDER by @the.stylander

TS JULY.
STARLIGHT on NIHARIKA SANGHI.
Kathak Dancer/Choreographer

NIHARIKA SANGHI has been dancing Kathak since she was 6. Now 27, watching her perform one can see dancing is in her blood...

Niharika is the Assistant Director/Choreographer and one of the principal dancers of the Ruchi Sanghi Dance Company founded 24 years ago by Ruchi Sanghi, her mother and Guru.
Based in Sydney, NSW, RSDC is rightfully known as one of Australia’s top Kathak, Classical and Contemporary Indian Dance company’s and school’s.

RSDC is back with another original, cinematic extravaganza in July 2026, PAASBAAN (“protector”)
Niharika plays Hira, who is “fierce, loyal, and unyielding." - @ruchi_sanghi_dc

“My sister and I developed the concept, while [long-time RSDC Director and Scriptwriter] Viral Hathi wrote the story and script.

The choreography is a collaboration between mum and me. We work very closely together, combining our ideas and creative approaches to bring the production to life.
From the very beginning, we wanted women to be at the heart of the story.

PAASBAAN explores strength, resilience and transformation [...] a world where women’s choices, struggles and courage shape history rather than simply witnessing it.“
- Niharika Sanghi

READ MORE at:
https://thestylander.com/starlight-niharika-sanghi

Images by @duskdevi / @ohmega.vision

For film, music and culture connoisseurs, the song I have used is from the 1982 Hindi Cinema hit 'Sanam Teri Kasam', directed by Narendra Bedi, co-written by Kader Khan and starring legendary Indian stars Reena Roy and Kamal Haasan (the latter is also a star of Tamil Cinema).

PS. The word Guru is made of two syllables: “Gu” meaning darkness, “Ru” meaning light. A Guru is the one who leads (a student) from darkness to light. by @the.stylander

TS JULY:
The World's Oldest Story.

Pleiades. Matariki. Krittika. Subaru
... a cluster by any other name is still part of the stardust we come from.

Interesting fact: First Nations People watched the changing properties of stars, like brightness and colour, for predicting weather.
They utilise stellar scintillation aka twinkling, as an indicator for predicting weather and seasonal change, which "Western" scientific research and studies have confirmed.

Also... OF COURSE Women were the first skywatchers. The moon has always marked that time of the month.

https://thestylander.com/features-celebrating-pleiades/
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. by @the.stylander