"We all Walk in Different Shoes"
A few days ago, Kenneth Cole unveiled one of his new ads on a wall of Rockefeller Center in New York City. The model is, surprisingly, a sardar.
The campaign features Sandeep (aka: Sonny) Caberwal as a Sikh and in the below video he explains about being a Sikh and standing out.
Read more about it at on SikhNet and on SikhChic or KennethCole.com
Related posts:
Awesome!
Kudos to Kenneth Cole.A right step towards social awareness.
We,the sardars, also walk in style with our heads high.This indeed is a true reflection of the changing face of America.
This should also act as a source of inspiration to handful of misguided few to not only preserve their identity but also to feel proud.
This is ironic and wonderful! Last Thursday night Harimanderjot S and his Dad, Guru Bachan Singh and Guru Mustuk’s Dad (my husband) and I were driving down 5th Ave in Manhattan and we saw this Huge huge poster on the side of the building. WE were shocked and drove around just to get another look at this surprising Sikh image on fashionable 5th Ave, Manhattan.
It is wonderful and recalls how in the Fall of 2007 when the Rubin Museum was doing a Sikh Art Exhibit,
they too had a huge full side of the building print of Guru Teg Bahadur in Mogul style Art. It was wonderful and I do appreciate these beautiful references to our Sikh image.
I go about the city with a beautiful white turban and I always dress in white beautiful bana to be noticed and admired. Now I have some company.
Wow! this is amazing, Designer companies should have one Sikh model, kind of stands out, this is the image our great Guru Gobind Singhji created for all of us .I am proud to be a SIKH nee
Kenneth Cole deserves our attention during our next shopping trip.
Its kinda sweet that they would do this, but is this just a way to get sikhs into purchasing Kenneth Cole merchandise? Even if it is, hell props for doing such a thing. I hope now our young kids can look at this and see that being a keshdhari sikh isnt bad at all and its cool!
I love it..
This is very cool, it also raises awareness of sikh community which is not positively prevalant in mainstream social media.
Bravo K.Cole for their excellent taste in the add. A real model material. I’ll like to reward them for their effort.
Good job!
This is sooo amazing….mad props to Kenneth Cole
he he, how cool is that. hoo hoo.
Awesome dude! I wish I was a sardar now…
oye bhalle bhalle!
WOW!!!!!!!
CAN I HAVE THE MODELS NUMBER:-)LOL
A MODEL THAT I CAN ADORE NOW COOLLLLLLLL
KEEP IT UP KENNETH COLE :-*
Thank you Kenneth Cole. We needed a start to this kind of awareness of the Sikh identity and hope others follow their footsteps especially Indian companies who still fail to recognise the sardars as models for their companies. By the way Kenneth Cole didn’t need this avert to sell their merchandise to target sikhs becuase I have been wearing their watches for the last 8 to 10 years regardless.
Wow… really nice… now even I feel like keeping my kesh :( …
sardars do rock!!!!!!
This is fabulous! Sardars are really getting there! Really neat!
Very cool….who is he?
really impressive, thank you for highlighting, what a cool looking dude.
The reaction of various comments indicate to me that one has to be a model to become a good and proud Sikh. How hollow we have become intellectually? Are going to decide the future of our religion and Sikhs in general by these models and the so-called illusionary icons. That is not some thing that would make me proud. Where are the real tradions and values of our religion that made us unique and some thing to look upto? I think our younger generations are being misled by the false and illusionary icons created by the western civilization. I hope that the current religious and political leadership of our religion and the various related bodies look at this and try to rectify the trend and go for corrective approaches. ILLUSIONS ARE ILLUSIONS AND SHOULD NOT BE FOLLOWED.
Very very nice…Cool looking guy
Wow real nice photo. CHAK DE FHATTE NEW YORK. NEW YORK ROCKS ESPECILLY FLUSHING
More info about the model at SikhChic
Congrats for the great work. Please keep it up!!
This is awesome! Waheguru! Does anyone know more about the model?
I’m definitely going to buy Kenneth Cole products now! ; )
I wish we had a better looking Dastaar…his fifty is like HUGGGEEE!! maybe the next GAP Sikh model can rock a better dastaar! =)
He’s HOTTTT ;) :P
Come on Sikhs! Even in the world of fashion there comes a point when all the images have been recycled. Bennetton have known this for years! A Sikh Sardar just adds something new to look and different to look at in a North American culture where the average person is subjected to nearly 4,000 commercial messages per day. The Sikh man stands out against the normal eye-candy of rake-thin models pouting in rags that pass for fashion.
Get a grip Sikhs, people have not switched onto the Sikh culture anymore than watching the orange suited Phillippino prisoners dancing to ‘Thriller’, on YouTube, has done anything for improving prison conditions in that country. 15 minutes of fame is now down to 15 seconds.
And to the person getting excited in ‘Flushing’ do you think its a coincidence that your town gets its’ name from something associated with toilets?!
Walk with your heads held high but don’t look too far up to see images that resemble you but are only in it to sell, sell, sell!
It is fantastic… well done kenneth cole…..what a cool looking sardar….who is he?
Brilliant THEME by Kenneth Cole;Great Social awareness.
We all walk in different shoes to protect our feet as a basic reason;We all with different looks,several Faiths and believes but for the ONE basic reason.
cheers to K.Cole…it’s about time a SIKH stepped up in this field…I give more credit to the model than the advertisers though…
Always loved K.Cole stuff but now will adore it and will stop by 5th ave before going home tonight to see it myself….
Outstanding. It’s admirable K. Cole is looking out side the box when choosing models. This is just flat out awesome.
We Sikhs are mainstream America. Like a friend of mine said “I am much of an American as the American Pie next to me”.
Don’t let your image which the Guru has given you become an obstacle of life. Yet embrace it and think if every Sikh began maintaining their true identity how much more of a presence we would have in society.
All Sikhs should be proud of their heritage.
I use to wear different brands of leather shoes…
Since now, I will use only Kenneth Cole!
Wonderful!
Livtar Singh
Lima, Perú
South America
amazing!!
i found the kenneth cole link…
http://www.kennethcole.com/thinkers/bio6.asp
WOW, How great is that!!!
As a mother of two daughters and one sardar son,
I am so pleased K Cole made this add if for no other reason but to show that we are all beauitful. Like it or not we are such a media oriented society. Thanks K cole!
K.C. has done some amazing work by introducing this sikh model to its fashion image.
Definitely shows that sikhs are thriving & can certainly flourish in ALL aspects of living.
Hats off to the model for representing our entire community & gratitude to K.C. for acknowledging us and our religion!
Unique theme, unique model, and unique company =)
How wonderful to see a well-spoken, handsome young man in a mainstream ad. I am tired of seeing Sardars portrayed as buffoons or clowns wearing vulgar, outlandish clothes and speaking in a countrified accent. Well-done Sandeep and Kenneth Cole.
LOVE IT! Thanks to K Cole for giving us Sikhs an opportunity to show who we are. As far as the Model (Sandeep) goes, he looks OUTSTANDING. I even showed this ad to my 2 sons and told them you don’t have to loose your identity to be someone, be proud of who you are. Excellent work.
it gr8 but i wish he had sed that as a sikh not as a sikh man in the begging and i wish he added one or two of the values that the turan stood for , otherwise its gud
We Sikhs are a proud community all over the world and this ad has made us prouder.
Kudos to Kenneth Cole and Sandeep Singh.
Charan Jit Singh
Sydney, Australia
Kenneth cole has done what no one else could accomplish. No! dont think negative (” a way for sikhs to buy his good..”). We dont have that purchasing power. We should however honor mr cole and of course, there’s nothing wrong with boycotting all french goods ( I have) and buying kenneth cole: Do little we can. Facilitate people who help us and vice versa.
Tom
Awesome!!!!! We need more role models like this Singh!!:) Thank you Gurmustuk for sharing this. Gurmustuk Singh ji you are one more my heroes as well!!!:) I have said this many times and will keep saying it bcoz it means so much to me and to many Sikhs all over the world that view your site on a daily basis that this Sikhnet site is such a gift from waheguru, this site has given so much knowledge, spirit, confidence, love, peace, understanding that I could have never received in my life!. May Waheguru bless you all Gurmustuk, Guruka Singh, and all of you who put in so much effort and love to keep this site running. You have no idea how much this site alone has helped me in life. Thank you from the bottom of my heart!!!! One last thing, the new featured wallpaper is breathtakingly beautiful!!!!, Thank you! Waheguru bless your souls. Waheguru Ji Ka Khalsa Waheguru Ji Ki Fateh!
I’m happy to see a Sikh such as Sandeep feature in an advertisement and give a short piece of information regarding himself and his religion. Society needs to be educated a bit more on every faith in my view.
Anybody have any idea on how to become a model? I wouldn’t mind featuring in an advert and talking a little about my life experiences & faith. :P
maharaj kirpa x
Hilarious that a few are even mentioning/questioning that KC used the sikh model as a sales pitch… ofcourse they did! thats why they advertise why else would they do it?
It is a brilliant theme by KC and I just hope that more and more of companies do the same and Sikhs get portrayed as something different than just “buffoons or clowns wearing vulgar, outlandish clothes and speaking in countrified accent” as mentioned by Rupinder.
As SinghisKing mentioned fiffty is too big and another thing I noticed his Turban is tied in wrong direction. I know people will give reason that he might be other handed, but look at the vid posted at youtube there it is in right direction. I won’t be surprised that somone tied this turban and he just used it as “Topi” to pose for the picture. You can see his right hand on his shades so flip of picture can also be ruled out.
But on the whole it brings out Sikh Identity to the American public, which is nothing new in Manhattan area. This very same ad could’ve done more service to Sikh community in red neck areas, who usually mistake Sikhs as Arabs.
Dil Sidhu mentioned it’s all about sell, sell sell which is quite correct. But we can use this image to promote Sikhi to our present & future generations so we can give them something to look up and have strong faith in their identity and feel proud of it.
Another thought is that I hear lot of Sikh (Singhs) saying that due to our identity we get singled out and discriminated. I feel sad for such Singhs that the whole purpose of thier identity was to be singled out in millions and it’s a good thing that you are singled out, you are recognized. People are going to look at you and be jealous due to the attention your are getting and will try to pinpoint things in you, so these Singhs need to stay strong and accept that discrimination in good ways.
I had totally forgotten about the email that was sent around a while back when Kenneth Cole was looking for a Sikh for this promo. I was reading Sepia Mutiny and remembered this when Ennis posted a link about this.
Even if it is a promo for KC…it’s great. I’m sure companies are looking for more ways to stand out and have to be creative to come up with new ideas to get people to notice them. This is perfect for that.
Hi!..it’s always happy time to see Sikhs rising up in the world.
I WOULD LOVE TO BE IN TOUCH MORE AND GET UPDATES FOR MORE OF THE NEWS.
Harimandarjot singh and his family are great and are great Sewdars.
Thanks!..do not what else to say?..cauz haven’t been in touch with any one for long time.
waheguru ji ka khalsa waheguru ji ki fateh
Guru Gobind Singh created a khalsa, so a single sikh standing in 100000 can be recognized that there is a sikh. Kenneth Cole promoted their product in line with Guru khalsa faith. Congratulation to promoter and clean shaven sikh should have lesson from this? American are happy to see proud sikhs, who maintain their identity.
This is not first time a sikh model is used by a multinational outfit, IBM did it many many years back. I had a note pad and on it’s side they had pictures.
But, it’s nice to see a sikh model on NY billboards.
It’s great to see Sandeep in the ad!! Our family has had the pleasure of watching him grow and knowing his family. He has always been a good Gursikh - always maintaining his Sikh identity with faith and pride. It is indeep very inspiring and reassuring to see our young generation advancing the cause of Sikhi in such creative ways.
To all those wanting to know more about him - he is happily married!!
Long overdue publicity for our fellow gursikhs, hopefully will spread positive message and knowledge to the ignorant masses who link us to the Muslim extremists.
Maybe this ad would encourage those turbaned sikh males (young and old) who shave/ cut beard but yet keep dastaar and the ladies (some turbaned) but yet have well shaped eyebrows to practise 5ks sincerely??
RAJ KAREGA KHALSA.
My congratulations to Kenneth Cole having the guts to go outside the box, instead of the blue eyed blond hair model in this age of globalization. Wish other designers could emulate this trend.
Please do not criticize the turban or the phiphti, it is the first step and for those who can do better, put it out on the web for others to see and show off that a Sardarji is also good looking dude.
Sonny, please keep up the good work and if you are further involved in uplifting the image of Sardarji’s please stay in the full form that Guru Gobind Singh ji gave us, (Please forgive me for this observation, it seems you have a trimmed beard, I could be wrong and I ask for your maphi).
Great job and congrates again.
I must say that I am both impressed and troubled by the comments on this blog. For those that are proud to see one of our own in a highly visible media spotlight - cheers! For those that are hypercritical of or dismayed by this campaign - you are blind the challenges the Sikh community faces in the 21st century, particularly in the U.S. Our community’s future will be determined by society’s acceptance of and respect for our unique identity as Sikhs. This will be accomplished through interaction with our communities, government outreach, education, legal challenges, and POSITIVE MEDIA IMAGES OF SIKHS! Maybe this campaign will do nothing to change the perceptions most people in the West have about Sikhs and the turban. But maybe - just maybe - a few people will see this campaign and say “wow, not all people in turbans are fundamentalists or terrorists - this guy looks pretty cool and normal. Let me learn a bit more about the Sikh faith.” Let us hope for the latter, for our sake and that of the next generation of Sikhs.
To Jagjiwan and others critical of Sonny’s appearance - your postings are narrow-minded and presumptuous. First, I don’t recall the Rehat Maryada proscribing a particular direction that the turban should be tied or the size of one’s fifty. And as to whether this model is wearing a “topi,” read http://www.sikhchic.com/article-detail.php?id=423&cat=6 to learn that Sandeep Singh has kept his hair since birth and has proudly worn a full turban since his grade school years, through college, into law school, into his practice as an attorney, and as an entrepreneur in NYC and San Francisco. I don’t think the same can be said for Vikram Chatwal.
This is a positive for the community that should be applauded, not criticized.
Kenneth Cole for president !
You are doing a lot to help the Sikh community.Good luck and keep on doing what your doing.
Dear Kenneth Cole - The Sikh,
I saw and heard you on U Tube today. I enjoyed listening to you - it was a impressive show. I am fond of writing short write ups. Can I do it for this site? I will be very happy to contribute on any thing else you suggest to me—–
Dr. Swaranjit Singh Cameotra,
Senior Scientist, MTCC & Gene Bank,An IDA,
Fellow AMI, Member WFCC Task Groups,
Institute of Microbial Technology,
Sector 39A, Chandigarh-160036, India.
Phone: +91-172-2636680 to 94 (Extn. 3155)
Fax:+91-172-2690632 and 2690585
Residence Phone: +91-172-4631243 and 2747470
Emails:swaranjitsingh@yahoo.com,ssc@imtech.res.in
Swaranjit
I second Sensible Singh
Mad props! But I dont know if its just me but i hate it when ppl say seekh you arent seekh my brother your sikh! we are taught sikhi not seekhi sorry just had to get that off my chest…but other then that again MAD PROPS to both Sonny and Kenneth Cole!
Excellent.i agree fifty should be little smallar and name should be sandeep singh not sunny.I am so proud to see the sandeep singh 8 years old performing shabad from pittsburg Gurdwara in 1986 september’mun mere gho her nam ka olla’Is rocking up in the Manhattan in 2008-Every one is talking about smart gursikh and it is all good.
Keep up Sandeep Singh.
Sonny,
We are all proud of you, keep it up and represent us well. Take care.
- Sunny
This is fantastic to finally see a sikh guy being presented by a big name company. This is another positive step forward for us and the the world population seeing us for who we are.
Well done to Kenneth Cole for endorsing this advert and to the sikh brothers and sisters for keeping up the good image of sikhs.
Good job…………… Great marvelous……………
its cool……….really amazing…….fantastic sikh guy
Kuddos to Kenneth Cole. Absolutely awesome and this ad certainly creates the required awareness. Billboards and other forms of advertising is a way to get across to the masses. Hopefully in the near future we will see other famous designers doing the same.
Great job and congratulations to Sandeep Singh.Delighted to see this great job by Kenneth Cole.
This achievement is with the grace of Guru Gobind singh sahib.Let us always remember Waheguru and thank him for all his blessings.
Gurdev Maata Gurdev Pitah Gurdev soami Parmessara
Gurdev sakhaa agayan bhanjan gurdev bandap sahodraa
Gurdev daata har naam updasah gurdev mant nerodrah
Guru ang sang hove ji
Once again sab nuh wadayia.
Tejdeep Singh.
HE IS SOOOOOO GOOD LOOKING….. I CAN’T BELIEVE SOME SIKH GIRLS WANT THEIR GUYS TO CUT THEIR HAIR…. SIKH GUYS LOOK SO RESPECTFUL AND HANDSOME IN A SIKH ATTIRE!!!
This is great for the sikh community. i also wear a turban and keep my hair. This add has just took sikhs to another level in the american community. Great work kennet cole and to the model.
While undoubtedly it is great to see Sonny helping gain Sikh exposure. It is important to be mindful not to place him as some sort of Sikh role model. From his own blog it does not seem to be the case.
Looks can be deceiving…Don’t judge a book by its cover…and all those things. I personally know so many people that have the “perfect” Sikh look but are all alcoholics. So just because he’s on a billboard he’s not a perfect example of a Sikh.
From Sonny’s blog:
http://caberwal.blogspot.com/ — he seems to have blocked it after people were visiting it.
“Driving home, we stopped to think about how much our lives have transformed over even the past even three months- there’s just no time for us to go out and drink hard like we used to (frequently) do, because we need to get up as early as we can to continue trying to chip away at the 10,000 things that need to get done, and actually be productive. When we do make it out, we’re a tired, lightweight version of ourselves that our previous selves would have openly mocked…”
This guy rocks… I feel I have seen him in India too,is he an Indian sikh?
Anybody know about him?
Whoohoo!!! Singhs in Action and always in Chardi Kala!!!
A good example for the young generation.We,Sikhs are always on the top.
First I just want to clear it up that I’m not the same “Sehaj” in the above post. The one with the HE’S SOOOOOOO GOOD LOOKING. LOL. I don’t want my friends thinking thats me posting that.
Yes its a good thing we have that sikh image out there for the public to see, especially in New York in a post 9 11 world. Keep it up Singh.
However we should be cautious on how we percieve this and what message we send to our gursikh younger bros and sisters. Like pritam singh’s comment indicated above. We have to be careful not to miscommunicate the message of sikhi to the youth. For ex. yes keep your hair one day you will be a model like this guy. We need to keep reminding everyone that sikhi is a path that is about love and being unique and keeping our kesh is just one of the ways we hold true to the teachings of our Guru. Remind the youth of the sacrifices that were made for this kesh.
So i urge you all not to get the message mixed up. A sikh should never strive to be a model, but strive to be the best guru ka sikh he can be. And if that means having your picture up for kenneth cole will thats kirpa.
Also some organization needs to step up to help regulate the way the sikh image is being confused for the taliban on CNN. Its absolutely pathetic how much they show the big bad unkept turban wearing beard sporting taliban on that channel. A positive campaign for the sikh image to educate these media sources would be a good thing to add to this billboard pic.
Saying all that i’m proud of my bro for doing what hes doing at least getting the image out there. God bless and keep true to your sikhi values. Thats most important
Ithink this Sikh Sensible Singh has talked a lot of sense. Sikhism is very relevant in this century but the Sikh ethos and the accompanied attire has to be projected with vigour an advertising BLITZKRIEG . Sikhs all over should contribute to take up a media base deffort .
I cant explain in words - I feel so happy to see the Sikh image being used as a symbol of pride. I had always seen the illterate Indian Cniema/press/media to gag on Sikhs identity, but experiencing a positive Sikh image here makes me THANK GOD!!
WAHEGURU G DA KHALSA
WAHEGURU G DI FATEH
its very good dat a ” sikh ” has been selected as a model …….
for dis i think every sikh would feel proud of thier identity given by their guru’s…..
ITS REALLY COOL…BUT I PERSONALLY DON’T NEED K.COLE TO SHOW THAT WE ROCK..I KNOW WE ROCK..
BE STRONG WITHIN URESELF AS A SIKH..PPL WILL SEE IT…
sikhi khendeo tekhi ;singhs always is in chardi kalla.
i soooooooo happy to see a singh in the fashion industry as it hard all ready. Its so exciting for our people to make it this international with a very reowned fashion label house.
I would like to see many more indians as models
i have some one to admire
I like the video particularly. :-) Very insightful! Also, bro is seriously FINE. ^_^
I SAW THE AD IN SAN FRANCISCO-I HAD TO TAKE PICTURE OF THE BILLBOARD-LOVED IT…
There is nothing more manly and nobel than a Sardar in a stylishly worn Turban, his moustache and beard! Very Sexy and very masculine!
Putt Sardaran Dee