The magician and the monk

back to issue

Manish Arora and Rajesh Pratap Singh: two fashion designers, complete opposites in sensibilities and aesthetics, yet both very Indian. Manish, like religion, is in your face, conjuring visions of idols, rites, rituals; Rajesh is monk-like, spiritual, contemplative and inward thinking. Both come from the same graduating class of ’94 at the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi, began their careers at the same time and in the course of over a decade, have come to represent and determine the course of Indian fashion, both at home and internationally.

While Manish the magician casts his colourful spell on the world, Rajesh is attempting to bring about change in the ancient and varied textile traditions, to alter the warp and weft of fabric, to adapt them to stitched garments, to bring in technology to make it more compatible with contemporary clothing and to rework the vocabulary of traditional design.

Excerpted below are interviews with both, conducted by Jivi Sethi, to give an insight into their philosophy of fashion.

Manish Arora’s gaze looks outwards; at colours, sights, smells and sounds. He throws in diverse elements – the simplest everyday objects, the most luxurious and opulent of flora and fauna, space age technology, every genre of design and motif on the horizon – into his creative cauldron, brewing them into his spectacularly original creations. His garments are so extraordinary that they have catapulted him to the forefront of fashion designers on the international scene. Each piece is exquisitely crafted with specially created fabrics, intricate embroideries and extraordinary silhouettes. He was launched at the London Fashion Week and is the only Indian fashion designer who has been showing continuously at the Paris Fashion Week for the past five consecutive seasons.

 

Jivi Sethi: You graduated in 1994, what was the inspiration for your final year project?

Manish Arora: It is not my favourite collection now, but it was the first time someone had used patent leather boots, corsets, etc. All my collections have sexual overtones, in some way or the other. There were six garments, each a different character – a maid, a waitress, a prostitute, a pregnant woman and so on. It was a spoof on British costumes, called Barnstormers.

 

After graduation you started working with Rohit Bal (who was on the jury of your graduation class) for approximately two years and then started your own line.

My first collection was shown at the Park Hotel in 1997. The venue was free, everyone worked on it for free – the models, the choreographers, the hair and make-up artists, everyone. Pepsi sponsored it; the total budget was under Rs 100, 000. It was a very emotional show, it was the first of its kind and at the end, everyone involved cried seeing the overwhelming audience response. The clothes were very kitsch, everything came from Kinari Bazaar in Chandni Chowk. Nobody had ever thought of using all that stuff on clothes. The collection got a lot of press.

I had won the best award for the most creative collection at NIFT as a student. Also while I was apprenticing with Rohit Bal, I won several awards and competitions.

 

Would you also say that apart from your talent, your open, friendly personality helped? And your clothes reflect your happy persona?

Yes, it is my talent combined with my outgoing Punjabi personality that went a long way in getting me to where I am today. I have always been honest to myself and my work. It shows in my creativity. I have steadily built a network… you meet people, you connect with them, you are nice to them, make them happy, make them laugh, you make friends. In collaborations, you build a relationship. Till now the collaborations I have are with Mac, Nivea, Swatch, Walt Disney, Espresso, Barbie, Lee Cooper, Pommery Champagne, and Conran Shop. Other ‘one off’, collaborations are also there: a garment for the Dali Museum, a garment for Victoria & Albert Museum, clothes for an Alice in Wonderland themed Printemps, Paris, store windows.

Though it helped having a good business partner in Deepak Bhagwani, who joined a couple of years after I began and manages the administrative side, major business decisions are still taken by us jointly. We also have two licensees: Reebok and Inspecs Eyewear.

 

The sponsors/collaborations helped in doing the international shows, which we know are a huge expense.

Of course, but it is really a Catch 22 situation. I get the sponsors because I do the shows. It is even more difficult to get collaborations these days because of the economic recession. There is a global slowdown, as we all know and it is still bad. Though, we have been able to increase our business 20 per cent, if times were good we could have done much better. Luckily, even the collaborations we are getting are better and bigger. We are really at an in between stage, where we are neither small nor big; therefore, the going is still tough. It is vital we make very clever and strategic decisions to have a sustained growth. We need to reach out to more people, to keep generating excitement in our designs, to become a bigger global brand.

 

What are the inspirations behind your various collections?

Earlier, what had worked for me internationally was that I came with a totally new perception of fashion, which is almost naive. The reason for that is none other than the background I come from – India. We were not so open about fashion; nor were we so aware of international trends, which has been to my advantage today. Therefore, I came out with fresh, almost old fashioned themes such as Circus, Jungle, Space, among others.

After the Jungle collection, I realized the need to grow. I needed to grow deeper. I realized that I could not have such obvious themes and influences. I needed to be subtle, tone it down. To be less obvious, like having a peacock embroidered on a dress. I had to move to another level. It is the only way to survive. You notice this with all other designers too.

My first shows in London and Paris declared very obviously I was from India. I used that to make a statement. Internationally, my collections initially were considered very Bollywood inspired. That was the case in the past. Now I am trying to make them forget I am from India; at least that is the aim. I do not want them to know me as Manish Arora, the designer from India. It is important for the brand to grow, to be known just as Manish Arora. The last collection was therefore more mature. I feel I have grown.

When I look at the articles in the press, for example reviews of Suzy Menkes of the International Herald Tribune, who has come for all my shows, I see the change. In her piece on my first show she said something to the effect that even the chandeliers were not as bright as all the colours I used in my clothes; that it was a great show though my silhouettes were a bit pastiche. This remark stuck in my head and I realized it was a disadvantage and I needed to work on it. Now, in her article on my latest show, she does not even refer to my Indian origins; instead she suggests that I have become the biggest showman. She has seen me improve. After my Circus collection she said though all the clothes were not wearable, they were dramatic, and I wished to be in the centre-stage of international fashion.

I am thus spending more time in Paris to get a feel about how it would be if I were to live there and design clothes, but still have the advantage of having a factory in India, embellishing clothes in a manner that cannot be done in the western world.

I am more focused on silhouettes now. I now have an idea before I start a collection, I think of a basic shape and explore from there. For example, for the collection I showcased in Paris recently, I took the inspiration from Art Deco. Therefore, for the first time, buyers and the press took note of the shapes and forms of my clothes in a positive manner. In style.com, the writer suggested that the art deco-inspired low waisted dresses by Manish Arora were a ‘must have’ this season. This had not been associated with me before. Earlier, it was always colour, embroideries and embellishments. My clothes today are more believable, more wearable. There is a part that is more dramatic – which a lot of pop artists/personalities such as Rihanna prefer wearing – and another to which ordinary people can also relate. Despite this fact, the challenge lies in not being too conservative, being true to my identity and style.

 

Are you also venturing into other areas besides clothes?

Of course, take for instance, my collaboration with Good Earth for fine china and glassware, or that with a French catalogue company for home accessories, or the bean bags I did for Galeries Lafayettes. I have done a hotel room in Hyderabad for the new Park Hotel, and two small parts of hotels in Ambi Valley, shop windows for Printemps I have even been asked to do a room in the Kensington Palace, London.

 

Are these ‘one off’ projects or would you like to develop these areas as regular design divisions of your brand?

Really, what is today a ‘one off’ project (to primarily raise money for my Paris shows, which are hugely expensive), I also see as a great learning experience. It has been wonderful to discover through my various collaborations how Nivea crème, Nespresso coffee, Swarovski crystals, Swatch watches, Reebok shoes are created. It is quite amazing. It all also adds to my designing talent, opens my mind to explore various mediums. Through such collaborations you learn so much and evolve in the process.

 

How do you feel to be in the contemporary context of international fashion and style? Do you take to it like a fish to water or are you self-conscious?

It has been five years since I have been showing my collections internationally. So it has been slow and gradual. Destinies change suddenly in this business, but that was not the case with me. I remember I was selected to showcase my work at Victoria & Albert Museum in London two years ago, in their series Fashion in Motion. I stepped outside while I was working on the show for a cigarette break. I saw these long queues of people waiting to buy tickets for my show, I could not believe it; it was an overwhelming moment. To be quite honest, such occasions I try and forget. I know I cannot allow myself to take them seriously. For that moment I live it, love it, cry, but two hours after that it is over, I know I have to move on.

 

What is your inspiration, how do you translate your ideas?

Honestly, I see ideas in my head, I see my clothes that I would like to do for my next collection, exactly, in my mind and I create them. I do not make any notes, for then you get stuck. Fortunately, I am very technology friendly. I always have my laptop with me. I send myself emails with ideas. When I am in Delhi, I have meetings every day with design assistants in my studio for the various projects and collections. My team comprises entirely of women. Also, I take trainees/interns from abroad. I know I am being selfish, butI find the way they work more creative. The Indian trainees tend to lack a sense of humour, even cleverness in ideas. We do not think out of the box. I do not want to run down Indian students. Even I was once in fashion school here. Now I travel a lot and am constantly absorbing, so I do not blame them, they are not so well exposed. Foreign students have the luxury to go anywhere, to go to any museum, to increase their vocabulary, to see the best exhibitions, the best garments, while the world of the Indian student is limited. Therefore, I try and steal a bit of all that they were born to when they come to work with me in a very positive way and in return give them all that India has to offer in techniques and craftsmanship.

 

How do you create new embroideries, embellishments, textiles each season?

Previously I would take India as an inspiration very literally, as in the use of auto rickshaws, the Ambassador car, Bollywood film posters, etc. Now I use India to its advantage for my collections, but not visually. I use techniques, I use craftsmanship. I did not take the existing textiles, embroideries, motifs. I plan them according to my garments, whether it is the brocades from Varanasi or embroidery from Kashmir.

 

Do you use indigenous fabrics/textiles at all?

We buy a lot of organzas, chiffons from China. I get other very valuable materials from Italy. These fall beautifully, I can do anything with them. Unfortunately, we are very rich in the history of textiles but not in the future of textiles. We are amazing in what we had, but sadly have not moved on with the times. We have not modernized our textile industry. We do not have the infrastructure. The 100 per cent silk organza from abroad is exquisite, while the Indian one is unusable. That is the difference. No high-tech innovations have been made. We are stuck in history.

 

***

Rajesh Pratap Singh is quiet, shy, unassuming and modest. A man of very few words, is rarely seen in public and barely at the end of his own shows. He is exactly like his clothes – an intense, deep, thinking man, his presence lingers long after he leaves. The clothes he creates for men and women are light and airy; bring visions of the mist of the mountains, serenity of the sea. Impeccably crafted and structured, they are timeless and ethereal. Wearing them uplifts the spirit, however low you may be… The inside of the garments are as exquisitely finished as the front, in fact, a lot of them in his latest collection are completely reversible.

 

Jivi Sethi: Rajesh, you grew up in Jaipur, joined the National Institute of Fashion Technology in 1994 after graduating in commerce from Delhi University, what steered you towards fashion?

RPS: It was never fashion to start off with. When I was in school in Class 8, I started working and hanging out with a cousin who was doing costumes for Far Pavilions, a BBC film. I went to Amber and Nahargarh to the sets; it was very exciting and triggered off an interest.

When I came to Delhi’s Sri Ram College to study commerce, I started working with David Abraham, who was then working for Sandy Starkman. In my second year of college, I started working for Martand Singh, David Abraham and Rakesh Thakore, and by the third year I started applying to study fashion at various educational institutions. That is how I got to fashion school. It was not organized or thought out, but just a natural process. It was the initial brush with film costumes that brought to my mind that one could actually make a living out of clothes, have fashion as a career.

 

Did you as a young boy have a creative streak?

I was relatively good at art, I found clothes interesting, I was good at sports, and I designed sports kits at school. It was more about making the clothes, which was interesting for me. When I was at college, I was exposed to textiles. Martand Singh got to know of me through John Singh of Anokhi and other Jaipur connections. He involved me with the YSL show held in Delhi. Later, I assisted him with his Birds & Animals textile show at Pragati Maidan. We worked with various weavers centres all over India.

 

You passed out from NIFT in 1994, the first three year diploma in fashion design. What did you do immediately after graduation?

I worked for KBNT and Marzotto, an Italian company which does production for some major international brands. My association there was with the late Gianfranco Ferre and Missoni. In the couple of years I was involved with them, they set up a factory here in India. Thereafter, I began my own line.

It was more important to learn how a garment is made rather than what we are putting on top of it; the construction is more interesting than the rest of it. That is the way I feel. Though there is no right or wrong, that is how my brain works and excites me, and that is the direction I have taken.

 

You have also sought inspiration from traditional costumes, their silhouettes, giving them a contemporary twist. How do you research them?

We are from India. Directly or subconsciously, whatever I see shall emerge in my work. It is not that one is trying to over-emphasize the fact, but what we see, what we like is what we translate and transform into garments. There are some beautiful things about Indian costumes and what we have acquired, be it from the Mughals or the British. A lot has gone into their making and that is the true beautiful construction we have been exposed to. We cannot therefore do other things, which someone else is doing in some other part of the world.

 

You have steered clear of how the world perceives Indian fashion – through Bollywood. You have avoided excessive embroideries and embellishments, your garments are clean and devoid of over-ornamentation!

To be really honest, I come from a background where Bollywood was not a part of my growing up. I come from a conservative Rajput family, where going to the movies was looked down upon. I personally do not have anything against films, but it does not fit into my thought process. Though once in a while I do see something nice, excessive Bollywood somehow loses purity. That is not me, it makes me claustrophobic. It is only the cleaner, simpler forms that are invariably interesting for me. I was brought up in the desert which is beautiful, as are the mountains. Less is more, is how I see it. Women look much better with minimal ornamentation.

 

What is your inspiration that triggers off a new collection?

For me the inspiration is not on call every three months. I work more on textiles. I keep evolving the same idea over and over again, till it is strong, and then it lasts for a while till a new idea occurs. It is not a marketing gimmick; very rarely will I get inspired by one thing, and it is generally a culmination of several. Essentially the core is the same, something light and clean. Even if I do embroidery, it is to my mind increasingly superficial. The construction and structure is important.

 

Most Indian designers use a lot of imported fabrics rather than indigenous textiles. What do you feel is the reason?

Our textiles were never meant to be structured. Somewhere in the ’60s, for whatever reason, we did not spend enough time on the technology.

I do not blame the Indian designers for not using Indian textiles. If only the technology were improved, many of our textiles and handlooms could be transformed into materials of global quality. Everyone speaks of Dhaka muslins, everyone speaks of ikats, of Benaras brocades, but they are not good enough today. They are not compatible with stitched/constructed garments. We lost it somewhere. We have to improve our techniques, we have to improve our counts, we have to improve our looms, we have to improve the reeds we are using to give a construction which allows strength for three dimensional use as also drape for ‘model’ clothing. This is not true for every textile made in India, but I would say at least for 90 per cent of the textiles made in India traditionally are not for modern usage.

 

Tell me about your experiments with traditional textiles and your innovations with them.

When growing up, I heard of the famous pashmina shawl and other such clichés. When we actually started researching these legendary materials from old fragments, we found they were clearly not appropriate for our use. Therefore, we started working on the yarn, which again was not available. We began with recreating it and got very close. The cotton had changed from what it used to be at the time when Dhaka muslin was made originally. We tried to discover the same cotton, the same count and found it in only one part of India. We started procuring it, spinning it ourselves, experimenting with it. Over the past five years, with the so-called modern charkha, we got our khadi to about 600 counts, started weaving it for experiments. The traditional khadi counts we had seen were about 300. In commercial production though, we only get about 400 counts. It is still very difficult to weave, but it is very, very fine. We are happy to have got thus far.

 

And your experiments with Cashmere?

I found we were able to do a lot of garments for the summer, but when we came to winter clothing in India it was our Waterloo, therefore the obvious choice to work with Cashmere. I decided to concentrate on textiles for winter; not much was available. Modern Indian textile mills did not have much to offer other than some nice worsted fabric, which was boring for me.

I got involved with a group of shepherds producing wool in Leh through the Ministry of Textiles and International Wool Mark and put together a consortium. Earlier, they were bartering their wool either for salt or selling at throwaway prices. We now get them international prices. We have requested people all over the world to come and assist us with technology. We have been spinning the yarn, and have managed to develop a fairly decent Cashmere – in fact, really fine – almost like woollen muslin; it has a better count than the traditional pashminas.

The traditional pashminas could not be used as their construction was not good and weak for stitching. Even post-weaving, the finish of traditional textiles was really pathetic. We have come half way but still have a long way to go. Hopefully, we shall work with this more in the future.

 

You have been working with khadi, Cashmere and also in Benaras with silks, and now you are also experimenting with combining all these?

We have been working in Benaras for a long time, some of the fine khadis are woven there. We have set up a unit with a friend, where with cotton, whether khadi or mill made, we manage to produce fabric which is really of fine construction. Sadly handloom has almost died there; only 10 per cent or even less is really available. Unlike what everyone thinks, most of it has gone into powerloom. We have gone back into handloom. These fine counts are only possible in handlooms. We are getting a very fine count of cotton which we are blending with silk. It was an interesting experiment. We have also been using really fine Cashmere with silk to create double cloths and some other really interesting developments. Benaras is still a gold mine and a lot can be done there.

 

Do you feel Indian fashion designers have not contributed enough to our textile tradition, therefore there is stagnation and dying of our craft techniques?

I think Indian designers are not into textiles but more into garments, which is fine, as that is the way they prefer to work. A lot of our textile designers have stayed with that 1960s policy of handloom and handicraft, used them as crutches rather than innovate or improve them in quality. It is great as an exercise in revival of craft traditions, but it is important now to innovate. Therefore, it is vital for people like us to contribute, to make them relevant for our times. We have been exposed to both the worlds and we need to do that. Just making silk saris, which are worn as much today, will not help to keep the traditions alive.

 

You have also experimented with giving embroideries, such as chikan work, a modern and contemporary design vocabulary?

It is such a beautiful and simple technique – as a student and later, I learnt to do the chikan embroidery. The stitches are amazing. You can sew garments with them, as they used to in the past. One needs to work more with it, as with other traditions such as bandhej and other Indian techniques. Much more innovation is required to transform them.

 

Are there more international buyers coming to India?

The only reason international buyers would be interested in India at the moment would be to hedge their bets on production. They do not want to take too much risk in one particular area, therefore they come to India. Let us not fool ourselves, they are interested where they can get a better and a cheaper product for their own benefit. Very few people at the boutique level would be interested in things that are Indian. What is in nowadays is environment friendly clothing. Buyers have the limitation of commercial decisions. The main markets for us are America, Europe and Japan, especially Japan is a growing market. They have a respect for our craft and there is a niche there for us. It is our responsibility to push this aesthetic with improved technology. We have to do it, no international buyer is going to come and support us. We are an ancient civilization and culture to take another direction or leave our values behind. Therefore, we have to just push along in this direction and that, I feel, is the only way.

 

What are your projects in the pipeline and what do you think you would like to achieve in the next ten years?

There are so many directions. We are more and more becoming like a research and development laboratory. We are trying to improve textiles, we are working on shoes, leather, and we are getting into areas which come naturally to us other than fashion. In products I have been involved with, we are engaging a lot with the weavers and the mills at the same time, so you have the craft and high technology. This has been my preoccupation. We have also been concentrating on handmade shoes. That too is a pretty neglected craft; we have to really improve the quality. We have been mass producers and exporters of really cheap shoes. So the technology and quality has really gone down.

Within India we are also focusing more on distribution of our products as well as supporting a lot of other friends and colleagues in the industry for distribution of these products. We are working on a project going from town to town, city to city, where all these products would be easily available. Basically we are trying to increase the market for R&D and design-driven products for us and for our colleagues, not only in fashion but other areas too. We are also going to push exports of quality products by creating a kind of consortium. We have already gathered some experience; this shall ensure others suffer less than we did, and in this manner we can watch each other’s backs, so to speak.

 

What is your inspiration?

It is always time and place, especially in fashion. Anybody who is doing their own style, and at what time they did it, is inspiration in itself. In the ’70s it was Yves St. Laurent and Pierre Cardin, they believed in what they did and pushed along irrespective of whether it was a commercial success. That for me is inspiration. We are trying to do what we think is good. I have a lot of respect for textile innovations that are being done all over the world, for textile engineers, and anybody who is doing their own work is someone I look up to.

top