Pooja Pillai is an entertainment journalist with Asian Media Group, where she covers cinema, pop culture, internet trends, and the politics of representation. Her work spans interviews, cultural features, and social commentary across digital platforms.
She began her reporting career as a news anchor, scripting and presenting stories for a regional newsroom. With a background in journalism and media studies, she has since built a body of work exploring how entertainment intersects with social and cultural shifts, particularly through a South Indian lens.
She brings both newsroom rigour and narrative curiosity to her work, and believes the best stories don’t just inform — they reveal what we didn’t know we needed to hear.
Cardi B appeared at Schiaparelli’s Autumn 2025 couture show in Paris holding a live crow on her arm.
Her dramatic black gown was designed by Daniel Roseberry, Schiaparelli’s creative director.
The surreal look paid tribute to Elsa Schiaparelli’s legacy of theatrical, boundary-pushing fashion.
The show marked a shift in Roseberry’s aesthetic, away from corsetry towards freer silhouettes.
Paris Couture Week opened on a dramatic note this year as Cardi B made a startling entrance at the Petit Palais wearing a black Schiaparelli gown, with a live crow perched on her arm. The rapper’s appearance outside the venue sent photographers scrambling as the bird flapped and squawked, setting the tone for a show rooted in tension, elegance, and surrealism.
The outfit, crafted by Daniel Roseberry for Schiaparelli’s Autumn 2025 collection, featured graphic fringe and a towering beaded neckline. But it was the crow, alive, glaring, and restless, that stole the spotlight, embodying the fashion house’s long-standing obsession with the unexpected.
The rapper wears a custom black Schiaparelli gown with graphic fringeInstagram Screengrab/lamodemagazine__
Schiaparelli’s black-and-white show channels wartime escape
Daniel Roseberry’s collection wasn’t just about visual shock; it was grounded in history. He revealed that the show’s core inspiration came from a pivotal moment in 1940 when founder Elsa Schiaparelli fled Nazi-occupied Paris for New York. Presented entirely in black and white, the designs rejected colour in favour of texture and silhouette. There were sweeping gowns, sharply tailored jackets, and kinetic details like fluttering antique ribbons.
Roseberry softens past silhouettes in evolution of couture
For several seasons, Schiaparelli had leaned heavily on exaggerated corsetry and hyper-stylised silhouettes. But this time, Roseberry stepped away from constrictive forms, embracing movement and elasticity instead. The change didn’t abandon the house’s legacy; it evolved it.
He explored sculptural tailoring and architectural draping without sacrificing comfort. Dresses curved like metallic sculptures, while others rippled with unexpected softness. It was a visual and conceptual shift that resonated with Schiaparelli’s ethos: fashion as fantasy, but not without feeling.
A decade after relaunch, Schiaparelli still thrives on surprise
Since its revival ten years ago, Schiaparelli has become a fixture on red carpets and carved out commercial space in a notoriously unstable couture market. But it remains a house driven by risk. The crow, flapping and unpredictable, wasn’t just a gimmick; it was a signal that Schiaparelli still knows how to stir conversation.
The show’s setting, the Petit Palais, also featured a timely exhibit on Charles Worth, the British designer widely credited with creating modern haute couture. That parallel between the origins of the craft and its avant-garde future gave the moment added weight.
Outside of fashion, Cardi B’s personal life remains a topic of fan speculation. While she recently went Instagram-official with NFL star Stefon Diggs, followers have noticed she’s deleted photos of them. Diggs also removed a recent post featuring Cardi, though older ones remain. Both still follow each other on Instagram, leaving fans to wonder if the relationship is over or simply on pause. Cardi hasn’t publicly addressed the status of the romance.
Cardi B and Stefon Diggs cozy up on a yacht during Memorial Day weekend in Miami Instagram/iamcardib
With her upcoming album Am I the Drama? set for release on 19 September, some believe she’s focusing on her music. Until then, moments like her crow-clad appearance ensure she stays at the centre of pop culture’s most unpredictable intersections.
Forum brings UK and Chinese film professionals together to explore collaborations.
Emerging British-Asian talent gain mentorship and international exposure.
Small-scale dramas, kids’ shows, and adapting popular formats were the projects everyone was talking about.
Telling stories that feel real to their culture, yet can connect with anyone, is what makes them work worldwide.
Meeting three times a year keeps the UK and China talking, creating opportunities that last beyond one event.
The theatre was packed for the Third Shanghai–London Screen Industry Forum. Between panels and workshops, filmmakers, producers and executives discussed ideas and business cards and it felt more than just a summit. British-Asian filmmakers were meeting and greeting the Chinese industry in an attempt to explore genuine possibilities of working in China’s film market.
UK China film collaborations take off as Third Shanghai London Forum connects British Asian filmmakers with Chinese studios Instagram/ukchinafilm
What makes the forum important for British-Asian filmmakers?
For filmmakers whose films explore identity and belonging, this is a chance to show their work on an international stage, meet Chinese directors, talk co-productions and break cultural walls that normally feel unscalable. “It’s invaluable,” Abid Khan said after a panel, “because you can’t create globally if you don’t talk globally.”
And it’s not just established names. Young filmmakers were all around, pitching ideas and learning on the go. The forum gave them a chance to get noticed with mentoring, workshops, and live pitch sessions.
Which projects are catching international attention?
Micro-dramas are trending. Roy Lu of Linmon International says vertical content for apps is “where it’s at.” They’ve done US, Canada, Australia and next stop, Europe. YouTube is back in focus too, thanks to Rosemary Reed of POW TV Studios. Short attention spans and three-minute hits, she’s ready.
Children’s and sports shows are another hotspot. Jiella Esmat of 8Lions is developing Touch Grass, a football-themed children’s show. The logic is simple: sports and kids content unite families, like global glue.
Then there’s format adaptation. Lu also talked about Nothing But 30, a Chinese series with 7 billion streams. The plan is for an english version in London. Not a straight translation, but a cultural transformation. “‘30’ in London isn’t just words,” Lu says. “It’s a new story.”
Jason Zhang of Stellar Pictures says international audiences respond when culture isn’t just a background prop. Lanterns, flowers, rituals, they’re part of the plot. Cedric Behrel from Trinity CineAsia adds: you need context. Western audiences don’t know Journey to the West, so co-production helps them understand without diluting the story.
Economic sense matters too. Roy Lu stresses: pick your market, make it financially viable. Esmat likens ideal co-productions to a marriage: “Multicultural teams naturally think about what works globally and what doesn’t.”
The UK-China Film Collab’s Future Talent Programme is taking on eight students or recent grads this year. They’re getting the backstage access to international filmmaking that few ever see, including mentorship, festival organising and hands-on experience. Alumni are landing real jobs: accredited festival journalists, Beijing producers, curators at The National Gallery.
Adrian Wootton OBE reminded everyone: “We exist through partnerships, networks, and collaboration.” Yin Xin from Shanghai Media Group noted that tri-annual gathering: London, Shanghai, Hong Kong create an “intensive concentration” of ideas.
Actor-director Zhang Luyi said it best: cultural exchange isn’t telling your story to someone, it’s creating stories together.
The Shanghai-London Screen Industry Forum is no longer just a talking shop. It’s a launchpad, a bridge. And for British-Asian filmmakers and emerging talent, it’s a chance to turn ideas into reality.
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