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Alisha Gupta Brings The Second Shift to NYFW With Beauty in Balance to Celebrate Multi-Hyphenate Creatives
11 minutes ago
7 min read
Written by Ezzah Rafique | Oct. 18, 2026
Photos provided by @secondshiftshow produced by @beautyinbalance.co & @alisha_g9
Alisha Gupta knows what it means to work two shifts. By day, she is an AI go-to-market strategy consultant. After hours, she is a dancer, a keynote speaker and the founder of Beauty in Balance, a national collective for multi-hyphenate creatives with a mission to make creativity profitable.
That double life is the idea behind The Second Shift, a runway show Gupta created to honor the creatives who clock in to their craft after their "main shift" ends. After making its debut as Chicago Fashion Week's first-ever South Asian runway, the show came to New York Fashion Week (NYFW) on Sept. 17 at 100 Sutton Studios in Brooklyn, blending dance, music and modeling into one nonstop showcase.
“Our runways, both at Chicago Fashion Week and NYFW, honor creatives working on their craft ‘after hours.’ The Second Shift is literally that - your creative shift that clocks in after your ‘main shift.’ For many creatives, they have a first job that grounds them. The idea behind The Second Shift is highlighting their passions that deserve a spotlight because of the amount of effort and time that goes into pouring into yourself creatively,” she said.
Gupta spoke with HAZZE MEDIA about the meaning behind the name, how she paired artists with designers, what representation looks like on the runway and where The Second Shift goes next.
Building Beauty in Balance
Gupta said entrepreneurship runs in her family. Growing up, dinner-table conversations often turned to new ideas, innovation and industry trends. Before Beauty in Balance, she spent three years running an international podcast series, "What Cause Inspires You," interviewing students across the globe about their impact stories.
After graduating from college a semester early, Gupta had about nine months before starting her full-time job at Accenture. She spent that time on an international dance tour, teaching BollyFusion workshops in nine cities, starting in India.
"It was there that I realized so many others were treating their passions as a side hobby and were nervous about losing touch with their creativity," Gupta said.
Beauty in Balance, however, began without a business plan. She started the company two years ago to bring awareness to a struggle she faced herself: balancing dance, speaking and entrepreneurship with a full-time career.
“Beauty in Balance grew from a need to open conversation about how to be a multi-hyphenate, what balance looks like, where to find resources, etc. But today, we are so much more. We live in 3 pillars: community, programming, and brand partnerships,” she said.
For Gupta, the term "multi-hyphenate" is broad by design.
"A multi-hyphenate creative is anyone balancing a profession with a creative passion or multiple creative passions, whether that looks like a 9-to-5 alongside dance, med school and DJing, or starting a fashion line and pursuing acting," she said.
The Story Behind The Second Shift
Gupta said the origin of The Second Shift is "actually funny." When the Chicago Fashion Coalition approached her to host Chicago Fashion Week's first South Asian runway, she almost said no, since Beauty in Balance is not exclusively a South Asian community.
"This was truly a historic moment I wanted to be a part of, so I took on the challenge but made sure the theme of the runway [was] still tied back to Beauty in Balance's mission," Gupta said. "That's how the idea of The Second Shift came to be."
The name speaks directly to the people it celebrates.
"The Second Shift is literally that: your creative shift that clocks in after your 'main shift,'" Gupta said. "For many creatives, they have a first job that grounds them. The idea behind The Second Shift is highlighting their passions that deserve a spotlight because of the amount of effort and time that goes into pouring into yourself creatively."
Where Movement Meets Design
Beyond highlighting multi-hyphenate creatives, Gupta said The Second Shift sets itself apart by not being a traditional runway. The show pairs performers with designers so that each act tells its own story, moving through dance, music and modeling. That meant casting started with stories, not names.
“The show combines dance, music, and modeling, and pairs artists with designers so that each act tells its own story. That meant our casting process started with the stories, not the names. For about six weeks, we were in conversation with artists and designers at the same time, and in my head I was constantly matching them, making sure each pairing told a story that felt true to both sides," she said.
Kahani Swim was one example. The brand wanted to show that its swimwear is something people can breathe, live and move in, so Gupta paired it with the show's dancers. She also needed the dancers to feel aligned with the brand and comfortable performing in swimwear, which turned the pairing into a three-way conversation.
"What came out of it was a story about South Asian design reaching beyond the traditional Indian clothing people expect: our prints living everywhere, in daily life and in movement," Gupta said. "It's where movement meets design."
The same approach extended to vendors and crew. Every pick, she said, had to be mission-aligned: multi-hyphenates building their craft after hours.
Inside the Three Acts at The Second Shift during NYFW
The New York show unfolded in three acts, each built around its own pairing of art and fashion.
Act 1, "Movement Meets Design," opened the night with Kahani Swim and dancers Anjali Akula, Haarika Somarouthu, Saanchi Shah, Shivali Tandon and Shreya Patel, performing choreography by Ramita Ravi.
Act 2, "Sound Meets Story," brought together Jeena by AK, founded by Akhila Konuru, and ROHN Projects, led by Raj Modi, with Naadi, Shevya Awasthi and Nory.
Act 3, "Celebrating Skin & Culture," featured Fiya Designs by Jefi Varghese and Bykhili by Akhila Nanduri, with Jeyźa Kaelani closing the show as the showstopper.
For Gupta, South Asian representation is about more than culture. It is about identity, heritage and the stories of those who came before. Unlike the Chicago show, where South Asian design was the focus, the New York edition was not a South Asian-only show. Most of the featured artists and designers were South Asian, but Gupta said she wanted to present them as artists in their craft first.
"So often we assume something has to be labeled 'South Asian' in order to represent South Asian culture," she said. "I wanted to call them what they are, artists and designers, and let their designs, their identity and their work speak for themselves."
Taking a Sign: Choosing New York
Gupta said she never intended to bring The Second Shift to NYFW this year. She had always wanted the show to travel beyond Chicago, and her original plan was Los Angeles, where she felt art, culture, design and fashion tend to live in silos. She was already mid-planning there.
New York gave her pause. The city is saturated, she said, Fashion Week is packed with events and "you have to earn your spot there." Then 100 Sutton reached out to host.
"I'm a big believer that when the universe gives you a sign, you take it," Gupta said. "It felt like the universe [was] saying, 'You can do this,' so we decided to test the waters."
The show took place after the main Fashion Week events, and the team branded it as more than a runway, so guests knew they were walking into an immersive experience with designers, artists and vendors.
"It was different from any other New York Fashion Week show I saw this year, and that was our edge," Gupta said.
A Lean Team With a Big Vision
The Second Shift was produced by a three-person team: Gupta; Divya, the show's creative designer, who handled program design, helped source designers and kept the creative ideas flowing; and Sania, who supported the newsletter and content writing.
That meant most operations fell on Gupta, which she said she loves. She wants a touchpoint with every person involved, from cast and crew to talent still in early conversations.
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