RIYA SWARUP
Creative Bio
Riya Swarup is a Sydney-based creative who loves bringing ideas to life. Through styling, photography, motion and graphic design, she creates visual narratives that feel beautifully human. What started as a childhood obsession with painting and fashion grew into a Bachelor of Design in Creative Direction and Styling at Whitehouse Institute of Design, Australia. She now directs and produces work across fashion, food, lifestyle and events, and recently won an Electrolux Student Grant for a sustainability-focused short film. With experience at Harper’s Bazaar Australia, Electric Collective, Romance Was Born and on freelance shoots for emerging designers, she brings an intuitive, art-led and curious approach to every project.
DESIGN STATEMENT
Second Nature reinterprets Ayurvedic philosophy’s elements of life as a contemporary fashion editorial exploring how fabrics inherently mimic nature’s textures. Presented as four distinct chapters, Fire, Air, Earth and Ether, each unfolds through narratives surrounding fashion, beauty, hair, jewellery, art and still life compositions. The first three chapters are a comprehensive texture study, with styling inspired by SS26 trends with feathers, fur and tassels. The final chapter, Ether, exists as space for introspection on wellness.
Drawing from Indian heritage, this work channels Yves Klein’s chromatic intensity, Paolo Roversi’s painterly photography, Japanese Ma and Sade’s intimate emotion, creating a visual language that is simultaneously grounded and surreal. Something intuitive, essential… second nature.
