Anand Jon Sketch @ LA Prison

CELEBRITY DESIGNER ANAND JON - SON OF INDIA

CELEBRITY DESIGNER ANAND JON

Anand Jon is somebody that we Indians can really be proud of.  It is primarily the IT field that brought India to the forefront of the world power.  In Fashion designs, India is known all over the world, mainly by the works of Anand Jon, as you can see from the following.

Designer Profile

·         Winner of Fashion Week of the America's "International New Star" Designer Award 2002-'03 

·         Asia Society Guest of Honor 2004, Asia on my mind.

·         Winner of Peoples Choice Award "Best New Designer"2002, Dans Papers

·         Winner of SASA 2004 Award for breakthrough in Arts and Business.

·         Indian-American Kerala Cultural & Civic Center Outstanding accomplishment Award 2002

·         Selected Top 12 new fashion brands of the future in the world by In Style Europe 2001-2002.

·         Parsons School of Design official Jury starting 2004.

·         Helping Hands Charity with M Night Shyamalan, Anand Jon & Ms Universe'03 Amelia Vega

·         Selected by A Magazine as among the Top 21 Asians to watch out for in the 21st century

·         Selected as one of the 25 "Faces of the Future" leaders of the new millennium by India Today.

·         Selected for the prestigious NYC 2000 by Mayor Guiliani among the top 70 designers in the world

·         Picked as one of the Top looks of the Millennium /NYC 2000 - Oprah Winfrey show "Oprah"

·         Official International Spokesman for CARE International children's charity

·         Judge for Miss India 2002

·         Judge for FEMME 2003 with FUBU & E!'s Leon Hall

·         The Shakespeare Theater (Hamptons, the Peter Beard mansion) Costumes by Anand Jon '01

·         Special Host of Iceland Fashion Week (with Patricia Fields of Sex & the City/ HBO), MTV Asia, MTV.

·         Selected to be the official host (co hosted by Ms Universe 2003 and Michelle Rodriguez) of the US ARMY/USO July 4th 2003 celebrations at Fort Dix, NJ.

·         The Fashion Group Int’l, Member NYC 2003 selected / sponsored by Margaret Hayes, President of FGI.

·         Profiled designer in Tyra Banks, America's Next Top Model, 2003.

·         Selected to co-host the first ever MTV Asia Fashion awards 2003.

·         Picked on ABC & A &E "American Royalty" series as the "It Designer" who launches "It Girls" featuring Amanda &Lydia Hearst, Paris & Nicky Hilton, Ivanka Trump. Lauren Bush(other "It Makers" included Richard Johnson / Page Six, Patrick Mc Mullan and Michael Musto of Village Voice)

·         Runway features debuts of Amanda Hearst, Michelle Rodriguez, Mya, Izabella Miko, Ananda Lewis, Princess Olivia of Spain, Max Tucci the Count of Florence and featured Paris Hilton, Nicky Hilton, Lydia Hearst.

·         Selected as one of the "Sexiest South Asians in America" Bibi 2004

·         Selected by Newsweek as one of the most successful South Asians in the world 2004.

·         Selected in the NR Eyes 50 most Influential Indians in the world (Book and TV series) 2004 : Deepak Chopra, Sabeer Bhatia(Hotmail.com founder), Film Makers; Mira Nair (Monsoon wedding Film Maker),

M Night Shyamalan(The Sixth Sense, Signs),Hosted by Lalith Mansingh(The Ambassador of India to USA), Mr Rath (NYC Consul General of India)

·         Sponsored by Slava Pavlovskiy.

§  "The Rise of Anand Jon; the best kept secret in Couture." Erin Ralph, Luxury Fashion. 2002

Anand Jon case: Social verdict or Racial Verdict!

Anand Jon case: Social verdict or Racial Verdict!

The Anand Jon case seems to possess a touch of bias against the brown skinned fashion designer. Even though the case involved accusations of rape and minor abuse, the resultant sentence of 59 years in jail seems to be a bit harsh.

ANAND JON : 

NRI fashion designer sentenced for life imprisonment

THE CASE of the Indian born US designer Anand Jon, who was sentenced to spend 59 years of his life in jail by a California Court, has raised many eyebrows over the manner in which the verdict was delivered in that country.

The 35 year-old fashion designer Anand Jon Alexander, gained popularity early in this decade when his designs were reportedly worn by celebrities like Paris Hilton and Mary J. Blige. In November 2007, he was accused of fourteen sex crimes, including forcible rape and sexual battery, in the trial against him.

The Los Angeles court had accused him of preying on a string of girls and women aged between 14 and 21 over a six-year period between 2002 and 2007. Most of the designer's victims were found to be the aspiring models lured into meetings with him and forced into sex as per the allegations.

But, the question that crops up in many minds is that the US and the western countries have been known for its liberal culture as far as gender and sex is concerned and it hasn't been a matter of controversy as huge as Anand Jon's case.

Pre-marital sex or relationships are treated as a casual component of the society unlike India where people still find these as a source of hidden gossip or even a taboo. People can lock their lips publicly in these countries and be respected and well acknowledged celebrities can announce their pre-marriage pregnancy officially.

Jon's case received all negative attention because it was coined as sexual abuse of minors and also a rape case. Also, without ignoring the fact of heinous nature of a rape or a forced sex, it is quite apparent that the long period of punishment imposed on Anand Jon for guilt on some 14 sexual offences which were brought to notice much later after they reportedly occurred, has some tinge of racial bias.

Despite a successful lie detector examination,  according to a weekly magazine, his brown origin and his fame despite being a non-American stood as a barrier to fetch him right justice. The level of discrimination increased to a height where he was compelled to fire his lawyers and fight his own case but all in vain.

Anand Jon became a victim of one of the largest acts of the interference by a prosecutor in the history of the country. His last words after the verdict to the judge said "If you are going to put me away, do it for the right reasons. Judge, this is my life here."

This clearly indicates that the judiciary could have played a fairer role for an Indian too.