It wouldn’t be an exaggeration to say that KATSEYE member Lara has stirred up an online storm with her appearance at the Paris Fashion Week on October 2.
Lara | @lararaj/Instagram
The singer attended the Loewe SS27 show with her groupmate, Megan, and quickly became a hot topic online over her styling choices. One of the most debated aspects of her look was the “sindoor”— a traditional vermilion powder worn by Hindu women along the central parting of their hair to signify their “married” status.
Lara at the Paris Fashion Week | TikTok
Lara explained her reason for choosing to adorn the sindoor, and it had nothing to do with her marital status. It was, in fact, an homage to her style icon, Rekha—an Indian actress who is widely acknowledged for her timeless beauty and her penchant for challenging societal norms. She is arguably the only public figure in the Indian celebrity world who chose to wear sindoor simply as a fashion statement, ignoring the socio-religious diktat that bars widowed Hindu women like her from adorning it, along with similar restrictions on wearing colorful clothing or vibrant jewelry.
Rekha | News18
KATSEYE’s Lara said in an interview during the LOEWE show that she was wearing red kumkum on her forehead, inspired by Bollywood actress Rekha.
So everyone dragging Lara for wearing sindoor, it’s not true , let’s stop. She literally explained what it is and its inspiration. End. pic.twitter.com/WRS3OU1jt3
— KATSEYE B✶SE (@KATSEYEBASE) October 2, 2026
Lara showing up at an event of international repute with her head adorned in sindoor, or “Kumkum” (some regional languages in India refer to the vermilion powder as such), has sparked a massive debate with netizens clashing over contrasting perspectives. One of the major criticisms came from people who adhere to a more traditionalist view and saw it as simply disrespectful to Hindu customs.
she prolly doesnt even know what sindoor means. she cherry picks the traditions, strips them of all meaning, and turns them into cheap aesthetics, then her dumbass fans crawl out of the rat hole to defend her performative ass. same shit everytime https://t.co/nAzHjbRoci
— fairydust𓍯 (@angeldusthyune) October 2, 2026
WHY does lara raj have sindoor in her maang WHEN did she get married https://t.co/FpcoAo0a1t
— adi (@fateofaditya) October 2, 2026
Lara Raj is making our Hindu culture a joke. Sindoor is not a joke bruhhh
— Hri— (@BTSchokedKpop) October 2, 2026
A more absurd line of criticism took the form of accusations that Lara was appropriating her own culture.
atp she is culture appropriating her own culture https://t.co/wFSXlr0mto
— deeps (@boomracradabra) October 2, 2026
im so done w her performantive bullshit
this is all cultural appropriations
— lovi⁷⋆.💌⸆⸉ (@slaylenahotmez) October 2, 2026
However, the most intriguing conflict regarding this issue has involved people arguing over whether Lara’s styling choice was regressive or progressive from a feminist perspective. Some opined that since sindoor is emblematic of a patriarchal tradition, it should be abandoned altogether. Others argued that by wearing it as an unmarried woman, Lara made a statement, much like Rekha, that took away the patriarchal imposition behind the cosmetic item, reducing it to simply a fashion choice.
See i love rekha and lara obviously took inspiration from that but sindoor is indeed misogynistic there’s no other way around it, mind you many women are forced to wear it, and its not “smashing the patriarchy” if an unmarried privileged woman wears it.
— Rey (@RaniChatterjeee) October 2, 2026
calling yourself a feminist and saying sindoor in patriarchal and then changing your own statement after seeing your fav, an unmarried girl putting sindoor for decoration is crazy af man, if it’s patriarchal then why aren’t you stopping your fav for applying instead of defending
— 🚬 (@thvlvvree) October 2, 2026
Indian feminists who have been fighting all their life to remove things like mangalsutra and sindoor to prevent violence against widows and unmarried women vs this bozo: https://t.co/bD23MfLBv1
— കാത്തുമുത്ത് 🐕🌰🐘🦍 (@kathu_muthu) October 2, 2026
It’s you people who are not understanding why sindoor is called patriarchal. Wearing sindoor should just be treated as an aesthetic, your choice if you wanna wear it. The fact that it is treated as as a symbol of marriage (for women) is what feminists are fighting against https://t.co/YWHuXVnVEP
— Miss Angriest (@MisssAngriest) October 2, 2026
she’s wearing sindoor.. iconic. it’s gonna hurt many fragile sentiments we don’t caree. youu go girlll💞 https://t.co/jQcRRZgDLV
— 𓆩jiminsuperior¹³𓆪 (@sheeminreal) October 2, 2026
“rekha wears it in the memory of her late husband-”
rekha in question=
like yall army sanghis and etc hypocrites can wrap it up https://t.co/CaemrIQKMB pic.twitter.com/s2OG2wqH1E
— 𝗬𝗔𝗦𝗔 ╋━ (@omegaddeonu) October 2, 2026
it’s just a shitty piece of ornament imposed on women by patriarchal standards https://t.co/x7DQAyqIcs
— leo | elor month (@spidykooz) October 2, 2026
not everything needs to be protected in the name of culture.. isn’t it a gud thing if she’s wearing it unmarried going against the patriarchal norm & using it as a fashion choice? women don’t need a symbol marking their marital status in the first place so let this one go pls 😭 https://t.co/F32vOToWuN
— bleu ⋆ (@gagnothin) October 2, 2026
Finally, some fans felt that the hate directed at Lara was rooted in colorism, given how she is scrutinized for being the “wrong” representation over the smallest issues, while the same criticism is never extended to other idols who actually end up appropriating or mocking her culture.
and u wanna tell me it’s not misogyny and colorism pic.twitter.com/3E1pMxoRbF
— Ani ᥫ᭡ || SAW ENHA (@Anikatza) October 2, 2026
Indians being weird about lara is rooted in colorism& insecurity.
everything she does is a problem to them but not when their own stars do it. They think they own everything nd lara isn’t allowed to do it coz she is NRI.
Second, they would’ve crucified lara if she was whitewashed
— dreamscape🪽 (@jeonghaniieyo) October 2, 2026
and it’s mainly rooted in colorism. indians are just mad that a dark skinned woman is representing india on a global scale https://t.co/gVj6uSfAZQ
— leo | elor month (@spidykooz) October 2, 2026
Hot take that might get me jumped. Lara gets more hate than idols or actors who are actually racist to indians or offending indian culture.
— Avani ꨄ︎ (@sunavani_foreva) October 2, 2026
Lara’s styling continues to be a heated topic online, with people from all kinds of perspectives weighing in with their two cents. What are your thoughts?