INFO
| Name | Anita Chhiba (she/her) |
| Country of Birth | Aotearoa |
| Place of Residence | London |
| Ethnicities | Indian |
| Artform | Fashion |
| Decades Active | 2010s, 2020s |
ABOUT
Anita Chhiba is the founder and creative director of Diet Paratha, an online community platform that celebrates South Asian creatives from around the world, highlighting exciting new works and artists across the diaspora.
Born and raised in Pukekohe, Tāmaki Makaurau, Chhiba grew up surrounded by Indian migrants but never saw South Asian representation in the media. After studying graphic design at Auckland University of Technology, she worked as a creative producer in advertising but grew weary of the lack of diversity. Diet Paratha started off as an Instagram account Chhiba started in her bedroom in 2017. Chhiba used this platform to repost images of the South Asian art and artmakers she admired. She curated an Instagram aesthetic inspired by vintage Bollywood film posters and her following steadily grew.
In 2018, Chhiba moved to London where she connected with a much larger community of South Asian creatives. She found a market to expand Diet Paratha from a social media account she ran as a hobby to a creative agency specifically championing South Asians. In 2020, at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Chhiba “took advantage of everyone being online” and posted everyday, further growing Diet Paratha’s following. Chibba now works full-time running Diet Paratha, through which she does casting, creative direction, consulting, production and strategy work for clients.
The name ‘Diet Paratha’ is a subversion of Diet Prada, a online fashion watchdog that Chhiba “hates” for centering on the cancellation of wrongdoers in the fashion industry. Instead of existing to criticise, Diet Paratha exists to applaud, flipping the concept of Diet Prada “from cancellation to celebration”. Diet Paratha posts about a variety of art forms, including fashion, music and visual art, and Chhiba makes an effort to spotlight those who have been marginalised within the South Asian community, such as queer, dark-skinned and fat creatives. In 2022 Chhiba created Family Tree Mentoring, a global mentoring programme that connects South Asians excelling in creative industries with up-and-coming South Asian talent.
Chhiba remains connected to Aotearoa. In 2021, Chhiba hosted a ‘Family Meeting’ in Tāmaki Makaurau, a public event uniting members of the South Asian creative community. She curated a panel consisting of Vogue India’s Head of Editorial Content, Megha Kapoor, and three South Asian creatives from Aotearoa: Kris Fox, Latifa Daud and Saraid De Silva. Reflecting on the event in an interview with Sauce Magazine, Chhiba said she found a lot more support for South Asian artists in the UK than she did in Aotearoa, so being able to take her work back to Aotearoa was “really special”.
Diet Paratha has worked with Burberry, High Snobiety, Byredo, Vogue, and Gucci. In 2022, Chhiba curated ‘YouthQuake folio’ for Vogue India’s February issue which featured 21 South Asian “disruptors” from all around the world. Chhiba was also the star of the digital YouthQuake issue cover, put together by a team of black and brown creatives from Aotearoa. In 2023, Chhiba was recognised as one of 100 Vogue Business Innovators.