Mira Nair and Manish Arora on the red carpet

Indian film director and producer Mira Nair and fashion designer Manish Arora greet each other on the red carpet at Engendered’s holiday event, Fashion Conscience ’09 this weekend. Engendered is a non-profit, trans-national arts and human rights organization focused on exploring the complex realities of gender and sexuality in the South Asian Diaspora.

Mira Nair is based in New York City. Her production company is called Mirabai Films. Nair is an Oscar nominated director and her film credits include Salaam Bombay, The Namesake, Vanity Fair, Monsoon Wedding, and most recently, Amelia and New York, I love you. Nair is a huge supporter of Engendered and is wearing a design by Manish Arora and a necklace, donated by Niraj Parekh, which is being auction off for Engendered.

Manish Arora was named one of the top 10 designers at Paris Fashion Week 2009. Regarded by many as the "John Galliano of India", Arora’s line for Engendered, called "POSITIVE", paid tribute to the spirit and resilience of AIDS victims, in order to raise awareness about the importance of safe sex and the complacency surrounding HIV/AIDS even decades after the origin of the virus.