“Embroidery is our DNA,” says Ashdeen
Dutch artist Patrick Bergsma and his broken ceramic pottery where bonsai grows is where Ashdeen found his stimuli, though his simple shapes complement the complex needlework techniques he uses to offer modern jackets. By Asmita Aggarwal Ashdeen Z. Lilaowala is a trained textile designer from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad (2002), with almost 22 years in this space, he decided to embark on a journey to really understand embroidery—2012 was when he decided to anchor the ship, launched his label. For a country which can’t get enough of embroidery, in any form, Ashdeen seems to have made the right choice, the only differentiator is, he doesn’t go where everyone has been, he uses these delicate age-old techniques on shapes and styles to serenade a younger audience, like his competition Patine. Growing up in Mumbai to a Parsi, working class parents, he was encouraged seeing his older sister study fashion design, and decided to follow her footsteps, at 17, he joined NID. Worked with NGOs, export houses, wrote extensively for magazines, his label was a result of providence, not premeditated. Ashdeen was working with a company in Los Angeles, used to import embroideries to America, till one day he made a Parsi gara for a friend, there was no looking back, he had found his market, from word-of-mouth. His experience was in-depth, working in the backend, he understood processes, techniques, markets, finance, how to run a business, and grew faster even though he started “late”. “I did my own shoots styling, wrote my press notes, it was a 360-degree learning, to know every aspect of the business,” he says. Twelve years in the business, with three stores (Mumbai, Delhi, and Hyderabad), Ashdeen believes embroidery is no longer a cultural aspect, it is all encompassing—you can wear a brocade jumpsuit, Parsi gara jacket or Kanjeevaram skirt. “Embroidery is part of our DNA, there is a new appreciation for it, consumers are ready to pay the price for the effort/labour intensive techniques. Honestly, 80 percent of my clientele is not Parsi, even though we have a dwindling population in India,” he admits. Parsis began trading with China in the early 17 century and saw these heavily embroidered pieces, they decided to bring it to India, Mumbai became a thriving centre. “Embroidery attained a new identity, it was Oriental, they adapted it for themselves—the jabla, wearing it, grew within the community. Trade blossomed, women kept the pieces, to be passed down to the next generation,” he explains. This year —birds, cranes, flora and fauna, chrysanthemums, peonies, roses will bloom on the LFW X FDCI Ashdeen line, almost looking like you are “painting with a needle”, inspired by the works of a Belgian artist, who creates magic with broken ceramic, letting a plant grow inside, almost giving you an image of an imposing floral arrangement. “Raised in a family of antique dealers, Patrick Bergsma was surrounded by art – using bonsai trees and using them in broken vessels, the visuals struck me,” says Ashdeen. It seemed as if fragments of time had been pieced together, almost like kintsugi, which he has attempted to portray in patchwork, without the Bollywood glam, simple shapes. Social media has put in so much pressure, how do you show classic ensembles, each piece is a labour of love, craftsmanship, so much consumption on Insta, how do we slow down? It is the question that plagues him. “It takes almost six weeks to make one piece,” he says, adding, “it is heavy on research, then polishing and finishing takes time. But I do feel this is where I find my creative stimuli. If I didn’t design, I would be a travel researcher and photographer,” he grins.
Builder’s daughter Monisha Jaising constructs ‘bling’
35 years in style business, the doyen believes, her biggest contribution has been keeping alive classic Indian ethos. By Asmita Aggarwal Her father was one of the biggest builders in Mumbai, specially the Bandra area, though he taught at the London School of Economics for many years too. Narain Bhojwani and Monisha Jaising share a common love for architecture, and interiors, even though fashion was her ultimate choice. The inventor of the ubiquitous kurti, (like the LBD) a multipurpose garment 35 years ago, Monisha felt it was Indian yet global-you could team it with jeans, skirt, dhoti, palazzos. It was kind of channeling Boho chic, a mix of what she learnt at the Royal College of Art, UK and her Indian heritage. She admits there have been more high points, than low ones in her career, her collaboration with star daughter —Shweta Bachchan, making jerseys for Mumbai Indians, “creativity gives me happiness”. Even though she faced recession, commercially sometimes things don’t do well, she believes “it happens in all businesses you can’t lose your bounce”. Her biggest contribution to fashion over three decades has been the modern woman, even the youth to live and like classic clothing, keeping Indian spirit alive! Some years ago, she paired her laser cut lehenga with a plain white knotted T-shirt, telling us you don’t need a bustier or a choli, this can work too! “Don’t think about building a brand, even if you don’t have your own, start working, gain experience. Look at Maria Grazia Chiuri, Nicolas Ghesquiere or even Sara Burton, they all worked for huge luxury labels,” she adds. There is a world of difference from the time she began, to now, no one understood why “fashion” when she began. There had to be education and awareness, “we had to convince and educate people, it was tough to get jobs, easier to open our own labels,” she explains. “Retail is booming in India, we had to tell customers, we are selling ‘fashion’, not ‘ready-made clothing’ there is a fine distinction between both,” she laughs. Social media has altered the psyche of buying, it has its pros and cons—you can either leave your brains on the table, or indulge in serious marketing tactics. Earlier we would spend a lot on marketing, editorials, and TV ads, “Instagram has finished all that—you can put out what you want in your own voice,” she says, “it has democratized the business—a fresh graduate has the same tools as me to expand her business.” Monisha over the years, hasn’t lost her sense of humour and giggles, “A young woman today will wear whatever her mother will tell her not to, she definitely wants innovation as she is able to see the world with a tap on her phone. How people dress –Pondicherry to Turkey,” she adds. Now is the era of mix and match—top from Zara, trousers from Fashion Street, you can put it together ingeniously, you look affluent. “I live in Bandra, I see young college going girls every day, who may not be as widely travelled, the way they swish their sunglasses, hipster jeans looks like they know it all, this is due to the information tornado on social media,” she admits. After almost four years, Monisha is back in Delhi for LFW X FDCI, she confesses laidback styles and her love for bling is eternal, MJ’s clothes can be worn anywhere. “Fashion degree always helps, you can be a designer even if you don’t have one, but learning is faster,” she adds. Co-Ord sets, blazers and of course the kurti have been her defining offerings to the Indian style-scape, “I love shine, but I use it judiciously, control it,” she admits. Besides, fashion, her love for spaces comes from her father, diversification does not interest her, but if given an opportunity she would have started a design college. “Fashion is ever evolving, I loved how glamour was edgy in Oscar de la Renta’s rendition of luxury, stylists have really upped the ante,” she adds. Sometimes they help sell, to customers who trust their judgement more, “homegrown labels may not have the knowledge of how to present that’s where stylists come in and change the entire perspective.”
“I wanted to dress like my father,” Pranav Mishra
Huemn may be his alter ego, but the designer behind it calls himself a storyteller, who loves the possibilities of what denim can do; this season, he takes on a new journey by recycling creating invigorating landscapes in his anti-fit everything. By Asmita Aggarwal There is a huge conundrum between Pranav Mishra, the poet, and fashion designer of the rebellious brand Huemn, even though he says rather vociferously, he doesn’t identify with the latter. He has, in every interview, been repeatedly saying that creation is an “accidental process”, he only mirrors what he sees around him. Any poem, film or even collection, a creative entity comes alive when like a “child you let it go”, he doesn’t fit his oeuvre into a box of mood boards or theme, leaves it free-flowing. “It is a spontaneous process, just like I write phrases,” says Pranav. It is 12 years of the label, he started with Shyama Shetty, NIFT graduates, who now has taken over a different role—of a mother, wife though the Thailand-basen designer remains a stakeholder as well as advisor to Huemn. Pranav is not fazed by her absence, in fact he believes she is “omnipresent”. Fashion has changed though, “earlier there were many ‘gatekeepers’, Covid has altered the fabric, internet rules, and passion helps,” he explains. Diversification is the key, he admits Huemn was one of the first few to show sneakers on the catwalk way back in 2013, “we didn’t see our clothes being paired with uncomfortable shoes.” Lays was his most recent collaboration (they also tied up with Balenciaga last year), then Royal Enfield and Pepsi (which earlier associated with Alexander Wang). “It was interesting to work with corporates, understand how they think, as well as design something other than clothing,” he confesses. The result is you get more disciplined with any partnership, also it’s an opportunity to reach out to a newer audience. The only difference he sees when he works in fashion is the pace, which gets accelerated, as you are building something, “it’s a two-way street, someone is going to buy your product, I feel a sense of urgency to create a market,” he smiles. But when he is writing poetry, no sale is involved. No filter, just him and words, it’s free, the audience can like or discard it, it doesn’t matter even if he is trolled. He has loved literature, especially mid-19th century writers, but Rainer Maria Rilke, Austrian poet has been most impactful in his life. “Can’t be friends with them, would have liked to, they are gone, but the only way to establish a relationship is to bond through their writings. It is like talking to my friends, four out of five will engage, one will just observe,” he laughs, adding, “Rilke mentally stimulates me, just like Charles Bukowski was a German-American poet.” He “shook” Pranav, the more he read, the more desperate he got to learn, and his design is an amalgamation of what he personally encountered in life. “I can’t say my collections are inspired by butterflies or Turkey, we don’t interpret, we allow the audience to deduce and feel,” he admits. This year for LFWX FDC, he has tied up with RRelan, sustainable, recycled fabrics were used, also in some ways limiting him, even though the brand is popular for its avant-garde denim, especially the hand made one launched in 2022, with a seven-step wash, to give textures, leaving you to wonder if it is a print? He doesn’t believe in machine-made, thus his blood-plasma textures look alive, surfaces excite him, landscapes are a favourite, which he also did in his Kashmir line, a few years ago. Endless scrolling on the internet has created a bigger appetite for fashion, design now, he says is a part of our lifestyle, everyday life is now an “occasion”. If you want to watch a film, you want to look good, it’s not just about dressing up for a friend’s wedding. “You won’t wear a lehenga for a concert, you will try a denim, nicely cut, we fill that vacuum,” he says. He agrees rather candidly, “he had to work on himself”. The entrepreneurial journey humbled him, “we can’t do things alone, team is important, there is no hand holding, each one contributes and is a stakeholder, I have lost my arrogance,” he confides. “I’m a storyteller, not a fashion designer, objective till today is not to create clothes. Only when we have something to say we show at LFW, after two years we are back on the catwalk,” he says. His first encounter with fashion was watching his late father, a published poet, dressed in crisp, white kurtas in the city of nawabs-Lucknow, “I wanted to be as sophisticated as him, soft spoken, funny and magnetic, I often debated how I should drape my shawl like him,” he concludes.
Luck doesn’t help, focus does: Payal
From her backless cholis to Aishwarya Rai wearing her award-winning Anarkali, Payal Singhal in 25 years of business has been consistent leaving theatrics to greenhorns, adopting practicality for survival. By Asmita Aggarwal Payal Singhal completes 25 years in the business of fashion, and if there is one designer who truly understands finances, it is the Mumbai-based guru of the “backless choli”. Her latest collaboration has been with the American sneaker company End State, that unfortunately could not be launched in India (due to laws changing) but is being sold in the US for $250. Designing the kicks with Stephanie Howard, ex-Nike designer, Payal says technology is the future as this one comes armed with a 3-chip futuristic approach. It is NFC based, interestingly they reached out to her, seeing her fan following (earlier they have collaborated with artists and musicians). “The shoe was a crossover between the East and West, June it was launched in the US, now sold online,” says Payal adding, it was inspired by Adivasi tattoos and she added her signature mukaish work, trying not to make it too Indian but global. You add brushed gold to this and you have a unisex sneaker. That’s not all. She has associated with Coach, also Namrata Lodha for hats inspired by the wheat farmers in Madhya Pradesh, she makes a line of kids wear, home, jewellery, resort wear as well as menswear, her portfolio is large and impressive. When she looks back, it is only resilience that helped stay afloat, keeping her head down and working, admitting “my career is not based on the luck factor” but a gradual graph upwards. She has survived covid, demonetisation, GST, and bad markets only to learn from those upheavals. “Innovation is the core of my brand; you cannot stick to a formula and make it work. I get bored easily, I need to be creative with my craft,” she adds. Twenty-five years is a long time to survive in the industry, when she started making Indo-Western with backless kurtas, to add sensuality, clients asked her “where is the back?” From 20-year-olds her customers, who spend more money than brides, Payal each season looks for excitement and freshness abandoning the complacency that comes with success. This year like always, there will be hallmark pieces—prints, fusion of art and architecture, shapes deconstructed and you cannot term her prints quirky or pretty. The backless choli remains her clients go to, and thus has been copied extensively too, the tasselling work added a new dimension to it several years ago when she started. “Luckily, I didn’t make any big errors, went slow, and sustained even during covid. We are self-funded, but tangibility and freedom helped us,” she adds. Payal has been a conservative businesswoman, never wanted to show off, flew under the radar, didn’t plan on opening a 10,000 feet store, when you visit her stores, “it is like having a chat with friends, not imposing or intimidating”. In 2005, she had a store in New York, which she shut down, even though she is the queen of collabs, she hasn’t ventured into the already crowded beauty segment, but came close to doing it. At 47, there is clarity of vision, every piece she wants to channel functionality and comfort. “Clothes should not be fussy, but easy, and clean, so repeatable. I always tell myself keep your eye on the prize, focus always works, and do not be in a hurry,” she adds. The LFW XFDCI line is a subtle nod to the 25 years, the first outfit showcased was the one she made, and won, for being the youngest designer in a Shopper’s Stop competition she took part in. “I was 15 years old, it was a national contest, the katarva cotton weave with a shadow effect won me the honour. Aishwarya Rai Bachchan has worn the winning Anarkali, I remember,” she laughs. There is nostalgia in the show, subtle panels of zardozi in gold, silver, and black, Mughal motifs. “My dad was an exporter and the biggest lesson he gave me was practicality,” she adds. Though Payal has no appetite for theatrics, “storytelling is important but I have done it without it,” she grins. The line is just in time for the festive season — extensive gotta-patti, creamy whites, tone on tone, ghungroos for embellishment!
A & T celebrate inconsistencies
Discarded cassette tapes, toffee wrappers, bin bags are now RTW and make for new-age embellishment, as the trio Thakore, Abraham and Nigli tell us “What we buy and how we buy” is of brevity at their LFWXFDCI show. By Asmita Aggarwal Shefali Shah is a thinking actress, chooses her roles, is known for plain-speak and this authenticity of thought has won her a legion of followers. Just like A and T she is a natural, thus a perfect show stopper at the LFWxFDCI showcasing on Day 2. Three seems to be the lucky number for David Abraham, Rakesh Thakore and Kevin Nigli even though the third member is often a silent partner. The NID, Ahmedabad educated designers have seen the trials and tribulations of an industry from its infancy, maybe that makes them more resolute to doing what they do. Their leitmotif began with pursuing textile and has this season moved on to celebrating discarded materials—very Japanese in their thinking—using broken, damaged pieces to create something brand new. “The idea of using traditional craft, techniques or reinventing materials in new and unexpected ways that are both modern and now has been the concept this year,” says Thakore. Unspooled cassette tapes are woven into organza, chip wrappers are now knee-length dresses with laser-cut sequins which you will never know is from X-rays and believe it or not cement sacks are refashioned as evening gowns. That’s not all gunny bags, toffee wrappers, bin bags, kitchen foil and rice sacks can now be worn for your next lunch date! While working with discarded materials key is employing innovative techniques to give them a new avatar, but it can be limiting as the raw material is not chosen but procured. “We have used various found materials from cement sacks, X-rays, old cassette tapes and plastic shopping bags. The challenge was getting them cut into shapes that could be used for embroidery or to embroider onto fabric,” says Abraham. David Abraham as creative director decides the general theme for the season, Rakesh Thakore works on colour palettes and woven fabric. Kevin Nigli oversees merchandising and production. “While we generally agree on most things, if there is a difference in opinion then popular vote counts! It has been 30 years almost so it has worked with each one finding their spaces,” smiles Nigli. After three decades in the business of fashion has it changed for the better? They believe it has grown enormously from a single boutique like Ensemble to many multi brand outlets today. “From a handful of designers to a vast fashion community, from traditional bridal wear to a huge choice of ready-to-wear… and from a miniscule market share to a large consumer segment that is aware and wants to consume fashion,” says Thakore. Sustainability is today an “abused” word and do consumers really understand it, even though there is rampant greenwashing. They agree, “sustainability is over used, the very concept of fashion is not sustainable in the fact, it demands constant change every season.” What is important, they say is to consume mindfully, “what we buy and how we buy. If we want to be sustainable then we need to invest in clothes with a longer shelf life, be willing to pay more or things that have value, can last,” adds Abraham. Often called the masters of minimalism, more lovers of everything natural, ingrained in our culture and ideology, they believe in minimalism in that less is more, “that you can speak without having to shout, that the extra sequin may not be that necessary.” They love anything done by hand, especially block printing and Ikat, their signature. “We have explored that over the years and constantly try to push the boundaries on these. In a world of mass consumerism, true luxury is small quantities done with the power of the human hand. It celebrates its inconsistencies as something beautiful rather than a fault,” says Thakore. Their biggest weakness they confide, they did not also learn business management, which is a whole different thing to the purely creative process, ultimately no matter how beautiful something is it must be marketed and sold eventually. “The fleeting trend buyer, hopefully he will grow up and become a customer eventually,” they say in unison.
Greenwashing is rampant in fashion: Drishti
Drishti Modi and Rashmick Bose of Lafaani, CDC runner ups, bring circularity through unrestricted shapes, kala cotton and their love for repurposing. By Asmita Aggarwal She is a big movie buff, so the brand name is a result of binge-watching cinema, although alternate, thus Lafaani, was picked from the dialogue of Vishal Bharadwaj’s Haider, starring Shahid Kapoor, (the dialogue goes, “Rooh Lafaani”). “Lafaani is an Urdu word which means immortality—immortalizing artisans and making a product last a lifetime, transcending trends is what we hope to achieve through our brand,” says Drishti Modi. They won Rs 5 lakh as award money at the Circular Design Challenge in association with United Nations, as runner’s up. Modi is well-educated, maybe not in design, but at Teri School of Advanced Studies, she completed masters in environmental studies and resource management, though she did a short certificate course from NIFT later in business of fashion. Drishti met her brand partner, Rashmick Bose in Teri and they both decided to launch the label in 2021. Growing up in North India, the initiation to sustainable fashion was from childhood when she saw her mother and grandmother being judicious. “I grew up in Pune, Delhi, and Mumbai, I was always fascinated with craft and textiles. My size fluctuated, and I would often not get clothes that fit me well. I had to choose from one rack, I decided I must design clothes for women like me,” she smiles. Drishti, started by repurposing her mother’s saris, she married her academic training with her passion. Working with craft communities, cotton farmers she understood what she really wanted to do in life during Covid. “Bose joined me, he comes from Bengal which is a treasure trove of crafts, we try to bring what sustainability means in a global context,” she adds. His first exposure to craft was a baby blanket that was made by his grandmother in Kantha, they realized they had synergy in aesthetics. “I have no connection to fashion, don’t come from a design background, I had to build an eco-system—it was challenging,” she admits. Her mentor has been her father, who used to work with monster.com earlier, left to work in the social impact space. “He has been an angel investor and mentor for me,” she says. For LFW X FDCI she has worked with kala cotton, hand crafted embroidery, and reached out to a company in Mumbai which recycles flowers waste from Haji Ali and Siddhivinayak temple. They combined this with eco-printing, and hand painting on ensembles which are layered, minimal everyday pieces, multifunctional and adaptable. “Reversibility gives you freedom to wear it two ways. Our aim is to fight greenwashing by many labels that persist in the fashion space, a consumer is unaware about it. Buyers do not really understand sustainability, like kala cotton does not have certification, it is important to prove it, bring value to things,” she confesses. The move forward is strengthening their story, she says circularity is in her DNA, it’s deeply embedded, she hopes more consumers watch what they buy and are curious about who is making it and how it is made.
Batik has unique monotones: Madhumita
Working with Batik master craftsman Shakil Khatri for the last ten years in Gujarat, to revive the 1000-year-old tradition using vegetable dyes, Madhumita Nath of Ek Katha hopes to serenade a young audience with reimagined crafts. By Asmita Aggarwal She studied textiles at NIFT Mumbai and JJ School of Art, the Mumbai-raised, Nagpur-born Madhumita Nath of the label Ek Katha took time to launch her label. She came from a renowned family of science mavericks, with her grandfather Prof. M. C. Nath, moving from Dhaka to India, setting up the Biochemistry institute, in 1946, Nagpur. Most family members are Ph.Ds, so when she decided to study textiles, it was met with “surprise.” 2016, was the year when she decided she would like to concentrate on Kutch weavers, she sought advice from mentor Kudeep Gadwi, who took her to meet artisans exposing her to lesser-known jewels like Batik from Mundra, Gujarat. The “khakan” is made locally, earlier they used oil of a seed, not paraffin wax to dye, but now only four families are left out of hundreds who have abandoned this process, six in the adjoining village— digital printing killed traditional art. “You can make digitals in Rs 15 to Rs 30 per meter, which ends up in Dadar market, it is quick. Ancient techniques, 1,000 years old, have a subtle layering, the beauty of it has been erased due to bulk digital prints. Batik used vegetable dyes, chemical- free, laborious, painstaking but excellent,” says Madhumita. Master craftsman Shakil Khatri’s family has been batik block printing for six generations, using oil of the pilu tree (Salvadora persica), locally known as kakhan, as a resist. As it is thick and sensitive to heat—the oil can only be used in the morning. Kutch batik left natural dyes shifted to naphthol-based ones, but Shakil sticks to sustainable processes, he makes 12 shades of natural colours from indigo, rust iron, turmeric, pomegranate skin, madder and onion after he was trained at the Kala Raksha, in innovative ways. He gave life to Batik with new designs, artisans in Batik Kutch are Khatris, Kutchi-speaking Muslims. “Khatri didn’t give up block making, his gradations due to the layering is unmatched,” says Nath, who in 2018, made a line for the Sustainable fashion day in Spain with The Circular Project. “I am not a businesswoman, when Covid struck, I shut shop for two years,” she says. Providence gave her an amazing opportunity to learn from an incubator program for women entrepreneurs, NSRCEL, started by the Indian Institute of Management, Bangalore, in 2023. IIM (Bangalore) has partnered with Goldman Sachs, Capgemini and Maruti also. “I received helpful inputs on the financial aspects of running a business, for six months through the management institute. It was a learning to see where I belong, how to survive when you do slow fashion, meet investors, pitch in front of them,” she adds. Apparel Export Promotion Council (AEPC) membership helped her figure out how small batches of hand-made can be exported to the US and the Middle-East. “I wanted to do something craft-based, but I am not a sustainability warrior,” she admits, as she worked with kala cotton, reducing carbon footprints with hand-made techniques. “I love crafts, bazaars, haats, seeing lots of stuff stacked up, and the beauty of Batik is that it is monotone, unique in so many wonderful ways,” she adds. Generally, she admits, Gujarat is often associated with colourful embroidery. “I did start with Ajrakh, but soon shifted to Batik, Kala cotton is not glamorous, but I know North Indians will be hesitant, but the Japanese will buy it at any price, as they know its value. When you can get a heavily embroidered piece for Rs 10,000 anywhere, why would anyone but pure, natural, plain fabrics? Many don’t realise the artistry,” she confesses. For LFWXFDCI, Nath has combined Batik with fabric cording, using khadi and kala cotton from Bengal, also paying homage to Kota Doria, adding delicate, subtle textures to create flowy shapes. Her love for patchwork, cutwork and quilting used in abundance can be seen, without serenading waist defining silhouettes, yet the line is young in appeal. “I would like to do B2B exports in the future —I know I have to build my capacity first,” she concludes.
Past Is Now
The past always finds an embellished way to catch up with the present in J J Valayas offerings which came drizzling with Sufi music by a live band headed by Sahil Vasudeva and of course some embroidered swans frolicking on midnight blue lehengas. By Asmita Aggarwal
Cross Pollination
Alpana and Neeraj along with the maverick JJ Valaya create a night full of glimmering stars as architectural shapes find a soulmate in velvet lehengas at the AIFW SS ’17 grand finale. By Asmita Aggarwal
Gentlemens Code
Sahil Aneja takes adds street iconography to the generally studied menswear By Asmita Aggarwal