By Aarna Patel
For Riva Samee, fashion isn’t just about clothing—it’s about the person wearing it. “Accessories are not powerful, but the people who wear them can be.” At just 18, Riva is making her mark in fashion as a freshman at Parsons School of Design, majoring in Design and Management.
Growing up, she navigated two contrasting worlds: the structured environment of St. Catherine’s, her all-girls private school, and the rich South Asian-American culture of her home. Her mother, Noma Saeed, an American-born socialite, graphic designer, and COO, and her father, Saquib Samee, a Pakistani-born interventional cardiologist, created a space where she embraced both identities. “For a long time, I didn’t know who I was because I never felt like I fit into one box. When I wanted to fit in, I would subconsciously use fashion to do so.” Eventually, she understood, “I’m not just my culture at home or at school. I’m both. But most importantly I’m myself.” ”
That confidence took time. “It took me a really long time to push myself out of my comfort zone… Inside me, I knew I had a lot of potential.” In 2022, she made a resolution to step out of her comfort zone. One day, driving to school, it hit her: It’s so rare to be alive. I want to spend my life doing what I love..
Her love for Parsons began with a summer course. “I stuck with Parsons because they really care about teaching you how to think as opposed to simply teaching content… They teach you to stretch your brain to an extreme.” A turning point came when her professor, Nick Dawes, asked, “Do you see yourself as a brand?” That question shifted her mindset. “I’m doing all this work for brands. What about me? It made me realize—I am a brand.”
Beyond fashion, Riva is passionate about songwriting, ceramics, painting, and marketing. She also serves as the marketing director for Ouléma, a nonprofit supporting youth aging out of orphanages in Morocco. “I want to be able to do good in the world through design and understanding people… That’s why my dad became a doctor. That’s why my mom does so much philanthropy work. To literally save lives. I’m just so proud to have come from that.”
Her favorite designs are deeply personal. “They’re all a reflection of who I was and what I was feeling at that moment… When it comes to my designs, I want them to come from my heart but also speak to people and allow them to see themselves in them .” She also believes, “We consume social media so much. The more people can stop consuming and start creating, the happier they’ll feel.”
Her long-term goal? “I would work under someone starting out, but my end goal is to start something on my own. I will just do what I love and hopefully the rest will fall into place. I really just want to make a change that helps people.”
And finally, her message to the world, a quote by George Bernard Shaw : “Stop looking inward so much… Start doing things, creating things, experiencing things.” Followed by a favorite quote of hers, “Life isn’t about finding yourself—it’s about creating yourself.”
(Aarna Patel is a high school senior from Grand Blanc, Michigan with an interest in studying neuroscience or human biology and pursuing a career in medicine.)
(Article submission coordinated by Krishiv Shah. Please visit www.thesouthasiantimes.info for more Kaleidoscope publications.)
