Head turner Mandira Wirk is back at WIFW 2014 after six years with a line that mirrors her chic taste and simplistic doctrine
By Asmita Aggarwal
Mandira Wirks design journey started when she was a student at the posh Jesus and Mary College, and wanted to wear something that kind of went with what she liked. So at 19, she took several trips to Lajpat Nagar and Nehru Place, bought fabrics, hired a tailor and made shift dresses to wear to college. Thirteen years later, she is ready with a line for WIFW 2014, which again reflects her, a non-obsessed way, rather it is what mirrors her personality.
So there is lots of warmth coming your way with offerings of gloves, thigh high boots, headgears, colour blocked stilettos to stockings for a Delhi winter. Ombre in French means reflection and that kind of set me thinking and it seemed like a perfect epithet for my line. People knew about my bridal clothes, but when I wore Westerns they would ask me to make one for them too. I knew I was on the right track. Even though I am back at WIFW after almost six long years, I wanted to show what I think works well, she smiles.
This season, Mandira abandoned the tryst-drenched travels and search for inspiring cathedrals or exotic destinations and focused on what is stylish and comfortable with a heavy dose of timelessness and embarked on an inward ride.
Her sassy shift dresses and wrap trenches in ochre, sangria and warm purples created in jersey, wool, velvets and satins with layering makes them an interesting watch. But what is endearing is the simplicity of silhouettes which she achieves after trying everything herself to know exactly what is off. I am a bit of a perfectionist and that can get a bit annoying for people in my factory.
Even if a garment is half a centimeter off I will redo it. In the process, I go through several stages of panic, nervousness and denial. But spirituality has helped me a lot in dealing with people who didnt believe in my ability. I have come to realise you cant please everyone, and if you are happy with your line, its good enough, she confesses.
Art and fashion overlap in Mandiras line in the painstaking manner in which she has included what she loves most—tone-on-tone embroidery, nifty motifs, even the construction, colour palette, technique as she describes is much like the zealous brush strokes of an artist on a canvas. My effort remains to not make women a slave to clothing rather a master, by investing in timeless pieces which offer straight lines and chic styling without complication. The focus is always on accessorising. I have five sets of shalwar-kameez which I wear to work; I just make them look different everyday with neckpieces, shoes and bags, small details which can transform your look, she adds.
Being a working mom can be challenging especially when your three-year-old daughter implores you not to go to work just when you are stepping out of the house. Mandira has struggled with guilt but learnt to balance the work-home equation pretty well. Being a mom and professional is the toughest thing in the world, and even when you are in the factory sometimes your mind is not always there. But I have a fabulous support system in my husband who has given me the encouragement to go on, she concludes.