The French connection

French designer, Mathieu Gugumus Leguillon chats with Vidya Prabhu about his tryst with India 

French designer, Mathieu Gugumus Leguillon may not be a household name here or in France, but he now brings his experience earned at leading couture houses like Yves Saint Laurent and Lanvin to India. “Working at these design houses did help me develop a perspective. In any case, back in France, the fashion industry works very differently. Here you see a lot of creativity and many designers are starting out and making it on their own whereas in France, you have to work your way up through the big names; it’s way too difficult to start on your own,” he says matter-of-factly.

Mathieu has recently  joined hands with entrepreneur, Maithili Ahluwalia of Bungalow 8 (opening soon at Colaba) to come up with its fashion line titled ‘The Bungalow’.

“I first met Maithili in France around two years ago and we realised that our design philosophies matched. So it made sense to take our association forward,” says Mathieu, who has created some 30 pieces with Indian fabrics—namely cottons, silks and khadis.

“I have come up with dresses, tops, trousers and jackets in different hues; there’s some embroidery as well, but it’s more thread work and less of beads. The fine thread work is my own interpretation of the Indian craft,” he notes, admitting that working with these Indian fabrics was a learning experience. “I got to know of these fabrics only when I took on the project and they are very light and easy to work with,” emphasises Mathieu, who describes himself as a ‘fine cutter’. The collection doesn’t have a theme as such but it is does have the global appeal,what with the geometric shapes featuring strongly in the collection.

And has he seen any fashion shows here in India? “I did catch Sabyasachi Mukherjee’s show at the Lakme Fashion Week finale and I must say that it was one fine collection! I hope to be able to recreate a similar magic with my clothes,” he adds hopefully.

p_vidya@dnaindia.net