Hyderabad-based dusky beauty Archana Rao is set to offer discerning buyers consummate tailoring matched with formidable construction
By Asmita Aggarwal
She comes from a family of doctors, but NIFT (Hyderabad) graduate, was never pushed to be one by her supportive parents. In fact, when she won the Vogue Fashion Fund award, she knew she was on the right track.
Growing up as a creative kid, who loved painting and sketching, Archana went to Parsons School of Design, New York and understood how to put to use technical details she learnt at NIFT into the design space. Frou Frou her label, which means the noise made during the rustle of fabric, is a tribute to feminine romanticism. My biggest strengths are pattern cutting and draping. I started my career as a menswear designer, so thats what I incorporate in my line for women—-the minimalism and attention to small details which make a big difference, she says.
Archana therefore doesnt make seasonal clothes, neither is she interested in dressing women, who have a trend fixation, rather the Frou Frou woman is one, who doesnt take fashion too seriously and obviously has a high intellectual quotient. So when I offer a jacket, it comes as a separate, you can make it your own, it wont overpower your personality, thats what I have discovered in the last two years since I launched my label, is what women want, she adds.
At 28, Archana, a first timer at WIFW 2014 says, her Autumn-Winter line will be ageless and timeless with interesting tailoring details teamed up with simplistic touches. Called A Clothes Line, it thematically uses the metaphor of drying clothes to show how different dressing can be from the father to the daughter within the confines of the family.
Even though I dont yet understand what the market wants and sometimes, I just crave to do what I feel works, this time I have used Gingham checks with rose motifs; it is a play of contrasts, she smiles. And this is what she calls accidental design, the frock for the daughter, the check shirt for the father and the plain handkerchief for the mother, this diversity is what will be reflected adequately in her line.
If you see menswear they dont have too many embroideries or embellishments, rather it will just be a play on the collar or cuff. This imagery is what I have used, so the line starts with pin striped pinks and fades into whites and blues. I have tried not to get carried away with my concepts and kept myself under check, after all, we all want a good retail response, she says. Offering saris for the first time, there will be a medley of dresses dominating the line, along with blazers and suits all priced from Rs 8,000 upwards.
A lover of vintage India of the 60s, Archana has an impressive collection of vintage clocks, watches, fabrics and embroideries. The West can never compete with us in terms of hand workmanship we can offer, our embroideries or embellishments, block printing its a huge reservoir of crafts we can boast off. So even if a Zara, Mango or Forever 21 is here, a girl who likes a bit of detail and not assembly line production will always buy from us, she answers confidently.
Winning the Vogue Fashion Fund award, which Archana admits was a game changer, it boosted her confidence and got her focused on making concept-based clothing. The challenge before me right now is setting up a space and reaching out to a wider audience in big as well as smaller cities, she concludes.