How would you like a designer outfit made exclusively for you?
What does it take to have an outfit designed and stitched exclusively for you? Dhanishta Shah finds out
Fashion moves in cycles and so does the way we consume it. Decades ago, our grandmothers stitched their clothes. Then came the era of ready-made clothes that gave way to tailor-made suits. Large fashion houses had their exclusive lines. Yet, something was amiss.
With brands churning out collections round the clock and fashion seasons moving at a cyclonic pace, it is all too easy to be caught in unimaginative outfits that may cost a bomb, but could be the very thing your neighbour is wearing! It’s time to get more creative and distinctive. People today are more experimental with fashion. They want their outfits created according to their whims, fancies and aesthetic sensibilities. Independent designers and tailors who create just that one piece, which caters to the likes and dislikes, style, colours, fabrics and so on, for just that one person, are now en vogue. It's an ensemble designed and tailored exclusively for you.Designer Mishika Gandhi, who has custom designed outfits for a number of clients, notes that the trend is popular amongst the younger generation who are not willing to settle for anything that is common. “They are open to experimentation as they want to be different. This makes them the right candidates for custom-made outfits,” she says. Mishika believes that more than being mere executioners of what clients want, independent designers are also guides, whom the clients look up to.
Being sure about wanting something different does not always translate into clarity of thought while getting the outfit designed. According to designer Urvary Shah, clients often get stuck in the process of visualising how the design would look on them and here’s where the designer steps in. “I make sketches and show them how the delicate balance between style, colour, fabric, fitting and finishing will work for their outfit. I also take into account their body shape and skin tone,” she says.
Mishika refers to a client who wanted a series of similar outfits for herself and her daughter. The fabrics ranged from newly purchased ones to old pieces from her trousseau, right up to a random piece of shirt fabric, which she wanted to convert into a fun peplum! For Urvary, a customised bridal attire remains her favourite till date. She remembers an outfit, in which “the bride wanted a lehenga, choli and an embroidered cape jacket, all tailored to her specific ideas”.
Cut, colour and fabric—that's not all a client wants. Some even want embroidery that matches their specifications. “I have worked with artisans and created customised designs using zardosi, gota, phulkari, kutchi and aari work,” says Sangeeta Jhaveri, who worked with several Mumbai-based artisans using traditional embroidery techniques to create one-off pieces.Customisation does not stop with the client. Sangeeta realises that it appeals to artisans as well! “Getting work done from artisans is not difficult, but if they have bulk orders of the same design and colour, it becomes monotonous and shows in the work. If they work on a single piece, they do so with interest,” she says. As a designer, her expertise also lies in choosing the right fabric, which would carry off the desired embroidery and the colour combinations.