> India's ‘It’ Girl Really Is That Cool STREETSHYTTERS COME THROUGH AGAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Diya Joukani struts through a train station in Mumbai, India, wearing baggy jeans and a white embroidered zip-up jacket. Behind her walk four women in colorful saris and salwar kameez, creating the illusion of a spontaneous runway show. The moment isn’t staged, which makes it all the more captivating, especially because of the way Joukani, with her carefully styled look, moves through the world that surrounds her.

Joukani, 25, recalled meeting the women, who approached her in the station to compliment her outfit. “They were like, Our outfits are fire, but your outfit’s fire, too,” said Joukani, who told them she was making a quick video. Soon enough, the women were walking in the camera frame with her.

This is just one of the many slice-of-life moments featured in her popular videos, which capture her strolling around Mumbai herding goats, drinking from a coconut while cruising on a skateboard and sipping chai with street vendors.

Joukani speeds up the footage and sets it to moody songs by artists like Frank Ocean and Ye. Her wavy hair falls below her waist. And she wears clothes she designed for her brand, DiyaDiya, which incorporates traditional aari and zardozi hand-embroidery onto boot-cut, low-rise pants; hooded denim vests; and long, slouchy jean shorts. This is her signature look.

What makes her videos so alluring is the sense of immediacy and authenticity she portrays on camera, as she gives viewers a glimpse of her daily life in the city. The videos, which are often filmed by her father, feature the tractor drivers, the chai vendors, the potter, the lamp maker and others in her neighborhood — people Joukani has known for years — and she interacts with them with affection.

https://www.nytimes.com/2026/08/13/styl … encer.html