Sandy Lion: South Asian Fashion Designer
Sandy Kaur Gill is a Punjabi-Canadian teacher, author, fashion designer and stylist born and raised in Toronto, Canada. On social media, she’s better known as @thesandylion — notorious for her fun, innovative, South-Asian infused fashion style and content videos. An educator through and through, Sandy is a full-time elementary school music teacher who simultaneously designs clothing and creates fashion, beauty and lifestyle content on a full-time basis. A woman of many talents, she began her journey as a South Asian creator as per her friends' encouragement to post her pictures curating fashion on social media.
Over the years, she amassed a large social media following and has worked closely with and styled notable public figures including Lilly Singh, Utkarsh Ambedkar, Beena Minhaj, Deepica and Humble the Poet. She’s also worked with big brands such as Nike, Gillette, The Raptors, Apple, Neostrata, Guess Jeans and Swimco. Sandy’s journey as a South Asian creative began when she first started dressing Lilly Singh for her events while she was pursuing a masters in education and studying to become a teacher.
In 2015, she decided to make the Sandy Suit — a power suit made out of sari material after attending a premiere for one of Lilly Singh’s movies. When asked about the Sandy Suit she says, “They’re designed to make you feel good. I love power suits and I love feeling like the shit. I was inspired by powerful Indian women like our mothers, aunts and grandmothers in the past rocking saris and so I decided to create a power suit out of those fabrics. Utkarsh had worn it at the Oscars in 2015 and that’s when I planned to launch a full collection.”
During the pandemic, Sandy moved back home to Toronto and launched a fashion line called Tuff Bandit, which was dedicated to her family. Sandy states,“I spent a lot of time with my family, but it was so inspiring because they went through so much. I originally designed a T-shirt with my dad’s taxi driver license on it. He was so humbled and proud.” Her father comes from a long line of singers, musicians and writers which has been attributed to the support she’s received as an artist from her parents. Sandy says, “There’s always been a creative bone in the family. But my parents have pushed all 3 of us (she and her sisters) to become well-rounded individuals. My mom pushed us all to do what we wanted. And so as long as we did well in school, held jobs and could support ourselves financially we had their approval.”
When asked about her greatest achievement thus far, she credits being able to represent the South Asian community and having young kids excited about the work she’s doing as a creative as some of her greatest achievements thus far.
Sandy draws inspiration from music, television, children, art and stories of resilience on a daily basis and credits the late Virgil Abloh and fashion model and sneaker designer Aleali May as her creative role models and biggest fashion influences. “There’s so many teachers, artists and people — people like Virgil Abloh who created this fashion empire, and Aleali May, who’s able to bring her community along with her as an artist.” She envisions building a brand for herself as a designer and getting into spaces that don’t have Desi representation. She says, “I see us taking over. I hope for unity — and for Desis to stay unified as they grow.”
Although Sandy has seen many successes throughout her career, she mentions how her toughest lesson as a creator has been to anticipate the losses as well. She states, “Every time you have a win, be prepared for the losses. It is an endless cycle. Having conversations with people that are smarter than me and know what they’re doing certainly helps with this as well.” You can find Sandy on Instagram at @thesandylion.