Shaina NC

Shaina Nana Chudasama (born 1 December 1972), is an Indian fashion designer, politician, and social worker.

Daughter of the former Sheriff of Mumbai, her father, Nana Chudasama, was a well known critic of BJP and its leader Narendra Modi for its handling of the post-Godhra riots.

Shaina is known in the Indian fashion industry as the 'Queen of Drapes' for draping a saree (sari) in fifty-four different ways.

She holds a record in the Guinness Book of World Records for fastest saree drape.

Shaina was born in Malabar Hill, Bombay (now Mumbai) on 1 December 1972 into an extremely affluent business family of mixed religious heritage.

Shaina completed her schooling from Queen Mary School, Mumbai (ICSE board) in 1989, and then obtained a Bachelor of Arts degree in Political Science from St. Xavier's College, Bombay in 1993.

She realized that academics was not her forte and that she was more attracted towards fashion design.

So after graduation, she travelled at family expense (her family being very rich) to New York City and took an associate degree in fashion design from the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York.

Shaina is married to Manish Munot, who is a Marwari Jain.

She first met him in school when she was thirteen years old and married him at the age of twenty-three after six years of dating.

Shaina attributes her success at managing her profession, politics, and social work to the silent but strong support of her husband.

She lives in Mumbai with her husband and two children, daughter Shanaya and son Ayaan (incidentally both the children have been given Muslim names).

Shaina says that her family celebrates all religious festivals like Paryushan, Diwali and Eid.

Shaina is pursuing a career in fashion design as well as in politics.

She says that fashion design is her profession while politics is her passion.

Shaina's mother, Munira Chudasama, has been in the fashion design industry for many decades.

Shaina began designing fashion at the age of eighteen when her mother was unwell; the collection of outfits she designed was a success.

Shaina runs the Golden Thimble Boutique, which was set up by her mother, in the upmarket Kala Ghoda area of Mumbai.

It is one of the oldest boutiques in Mumbai city.

She does not like to design for Bollywood films but rather for individuals.

Her clients include celebrities such as: Aishwarya Rai, Juhi Chawla, and Mahima Chaudhry.

Her main fashion designing interest is in sarees.

She specialises in traditional sarees which include: Chanderis, Paithanis, Chiffons, Silks, and Cottons.

Shaina is quoted as saying: "It [saree] is ours, it belongs to us. It is the most flattering garment where a thin person can look voluptuous and a bulky person can camouflage all the unseemly bulges. The younger generation need to be introduced to the garment."

She holds a record in the Guinness Book of World Records for the fastest draping of a saree.

Shaina is often referred to as Queen of Drapes because of her fifty-four different ways of draping a saree.

Indian women traditionally wear a saree over a petticoat, but in one of her styles, Shaina wears a saree over trousers.

She says there are no set rules regarding how to wear saree.

Women can wear saree over jeans, chudidar or tapered skirt in combination with choli.

One of her other ways is to wear two sarees at a time.

For younger, modern Indian women, who may find it cumbersome to wear a six-yard saree, she has designed ready-to-wear sarees.

Shaina does not use swarovski(crystals) on her sarees but does employ embroidery, sequins, and kundans to match them with blouses of different styles ranging from halterneck to spaghetti strap, choli, and long choli.

Her father, Nana Chudasama, was a businessman with strong political connections who later became Sheriff of Bombay for one year in the 1990s.

He belonged to a Hindu Gujarati Rajput family from Saurashtra.

Shaina's mother, Munira, came from a Dawoodi Bohra Muslim family, also from Gujarat.

Shaina has two siblings: a brother, Akshay Nana Chudasama, and a sister, Brinda, who is married to a Muslim.

She entered politics in 2004 and joined the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

She holds the positions of national spokesperson for the BJP, member of the national executive council of BJP, and treasurer of the BJP's Maharashtra unit.

Shaina is also involved in social work through her charity fashion shows and two NGOs, 'I Love Mumbai' and 'Giants International'.

As a female politician, she is often projected as the young, urbane, and women-friendly face of the BJP in television debates.