Back in 2020, American socialite and media personality Kim Kardashian was accused of cultural appropriation after she was spotted wearing traditional gold bangles and maang tika. In 2021, the same happened when she was seen wearing ‘Om’ earrings.
And very recently, the businesswoman borrowed another piece of jewelry from desi tradition, a nose ring AKA ‘nath’, and twinned it with her daughter North West in France at Paris Fashion Week. Clearly, she is obsessed with Indian jewelry.
And given the fan following and the influence she has on the fashion industry, it immediately made headlines and a fashion trend too. After her, it was American singer Lizzo who wore the accessory at the VMAs.
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The Daily Mail did a full-blown article on Lizzo’s statement clip-on nose ring chain and said she followed the trend set by Kim and her daughter.
But they were also careful in mentioning that nose rings have been a tradition in India for several centuries. However, them saying it was a ‘trend’ set by Kim didn’t go well with desis online. They were quick to correct the publication and put light on the fact that Indian women have been wearing them since time immemorial.
I think people need to understand that the problem here isn't Lizzo but the fact that the Daily Mail said it's a "trend set by Kim Kardashian" because she did no such thing. https://t.co/Wqz7qIyS5R
— শাহান | شاہان 🇧🇩🏳️🌈🌸 (@Shah_Hussain99) September 3, 2022
Women in India have been wearing them since before 6th century. pic.twitter.com/bVycAE2PY9
— M🦋 (@canudoone) August 31, 2022
“tReND”… What can we expect from Americans? So embarrassing 😭
Like pls trust me every Indian women has worn this at least once in their life. https://t.co/pdW2uQkbdD— nimi 💍 (@buffbtxtie) September 3, 2022
Time to flex some pahari nathulis😎 https://t.co/1apBW1W783 pic.twitter.com/qZzk397tfr
— 🌟/!|¥|@!_ (@Sleepinmetatron) September 3, 2022
when desis wear nose rings/studs it’s uncivilised and unprofessional but when they do it it’s a trend 🤠 can’t out-do the doer https://t.co/2S7S0ucixB
— f⁷ (@fvckbts) September 2, 2022
You can't beat the original https://t.co/IkBM4bZHhe pic.twitter.com/PLlHcTSSoZ
— z (@lushciouszu) September 2, 2022
i thought this was like known to be a part of indian culture… are celeb news journalists idiots https://t.co/wMhX869MLY
— *ੈ✩‧₊˚bella (@twiceorexic) September 2, 2022
Trend set by who now?!! https://t.co/F2SeUeDm73 pic.twitter.com/HR99gjy7EL
— lia✨ (@gyukai304) September 2, 2022
My mother, grandmother and ancestors did it first and better https://t.co/tY0BPbejHB pic.twitter.com/HAXmiEO35A
— Sai ⁷ kinda ia (@ASLANEIJl) September 2, 2022
I'm the whitest man on the planet and even I knew that https://t.co/ULI4TwGvzV
— Da Mountie (@UrFellowMountie) September 3, 2022
Apparently, wearing nose rings is also common in African culture.
No just India they do this in African cultures as well so idk why y’all trying to drag lizzo on here https://t.co/5L0XbEt0wd
— pocket (@islandthembo) September 2, 2022
drag kim kardashian all you want but why are you trying to lump lizzo in the mix 😭 she is a black woman & african cultures also have jewelry like this. one way or another yall gotta be anti black https://t.co/EsBozudDgN pic.twitter.com/wKkfAoOYD4
— chichi🍬 (@harajukuvivi) September 2, 2022
She definitely didn’t set the trend. But Kim did give the accessory the appreciation it needed by donning it herself and exposing it to those who were alien to the concept. In both cases, it’s always good to give credit where it’s due.