Nancy Tyagi: ‘Main gudiyon ko dress karti thi, then I became my own gudiya’

One of the outfits that Tyagi stitched, and wore to Cannes

Whatever you may feel about unworthy influencers flooding Cannes and making it less about the movies and more about the Red Carpet, Nancy Tyagi is clearly an exception to the rule. The Delhi-based fashion creator, who is known for recreating looks that she has seen celebrities wear, has been running a 100-days-of-outfits-from-scratch series. She chooses a look, then goes to her local market, buys material at dirt cheap rates, stitches her outfit by hand, with a trusted sewing machine to help and voila! - she reappears at the end of these videos after reconstructing the dress and along with her own quiet fierceness.

Was it her mother who guided her fingers to be as adept at the sewing machine? We ask, she laughs childishly, "No no, Mom doesn't know it at all. Even though I am using her sewing machine! My mother is too busy playing with the puppy I got her." Her father is back in Baranwa, her village in Uttar Pradesh where he works as a TV technician. Her talent with the thread and needle has made her the only influencer who has received only bouquets, no brickbats at Cannes. Her follower count has jumped to 1.7 million in the past week alone. She first got noticed for her pink voluminous gown, made with 1,000 metres of fabric, weighing over 20 kgs. Her second outing was in a lilac hoodie gown made of a sheer embroidered fabric. But how did Tyagi, a Barnawa-girl, get interested in high fashion? Her brother Manu has been quoted as assaying that she came to Delhi during COVID 19 to pursue the civil services exam, but due to the lockdown started creating content. But Tyagi tells us she always had an eye for outfits. "Main apni gudiyon ke liye kapde banati thi, fir main hi Gudiya ban gayi [I used to make clothes for my dolls, then I only became the doll]," says the 23-year-old. Her playground now is the Seelampur market, which is near the neighbourhood of Shahdara. She has picked well. Shanti Mohalla at Seelampur is famous for things fashion - fabric, sequins and accessories, and is also a one-stop-shop for designers. Ask her if she remembers the first outfit she remembers making, and she says, "I made a lehenga from my mother's sari, which was only R100 or R150. It was an experiment that went right."

Nancy says her first outfit was a lehenga made out of her mother's Rs 150 saree from Seelampur

If the young creator has a process, then it's all dreamt up under the moonlight, then it's all about execution. "Main raat ko sone se pehle sochti hoon, subah bana deti hoon [I spend time imaging at night before sleeping, then get up and work on the outfit]." It's that kind of hustle that we all wish we had, and Tyagi seems to know that the only way ahead is to now build on her brand, especially in a world where every other influencer wants to tell you how to dress. "Maine hi shurawat ki hai aise content ki [I have only begun such content]. No one is doing what I am doing, I am different. Now, the aim is to become a fashion designer."
Well, Nancy, you go get them.