Shakeel’s jubilant work was born out of a period of sadness in her own life when she found herself at odds with Pakistan’s social norms. Unmarried and failing a degree in dentistry at the age of 27, she started collaging in her bedroom as a form of catharsis. Sara’s empire built, as her illusionary Instagram pictures piqued the interest of stars, including Sarah Jessica Parker. Soon she was on a flight to Dubai to work with Reebok. On another trip to Milan, she stoned a photograph of an Emirates plane and posted it. By the time she had landed in Italy, she had amassed another 300,000 followers. “It broke the internet!” she chuckles.
“Each picture heals a part of me and I hope it heals a part of you too,” reads Shakeel’s Insta bio
Contracts with Browns Fashion and an installation at the NOW Gallery brought her to London, where her husband is also studying. Everyone she has met along the way has had a similar reaction to her unique work, which she now does full-time. “No matter how big or successful you are, crystals are mesmerising to watch,” Shakeel explains, citing her grandmother’s Swarovski collection as the root of her own obsession. “Every movement I made while playing with them when I was little changed the colours of the crystals – it was breathtaking for me,” she remembers.
