Changing Perceptions

when mom arranged

and cleaned her cupboard and pulled out

that excessively one sorry

i knew it was time for a beautiful

outfit for me

researching all the fashion film

magazines at that point in time

pulling out a popular film outfit

and keeping it very safely in her little

purse under her arm

taking me to the tailors two things were

very important in mom’s life

the family doctor and the family tailor

the family tailor who worked from a

little

shop at the end of the road either with

his

wife and children or with a couple of

carrigers

i knew it would take 20 days for that

outfit to arrive the patient wait was

worth it if the tailor was in a good

mood

if not another 10 days to alter the

outfit

30 days wow for one outfit

talked out of studying i decided the

easy way out was getting married

so i got married and to my good luck

in a family of professionals i had to

pursue a career

and that was not what i got married for

so i decided that i’m going to take up

fashion

because of my little knowledge from

fashion magazines

that were available at that point in

time and

in the mid-80s i was amongst the few

who had pursued a career in fashion

and graduated my design sensibilities

amalgamated

western trends western sensibilities

with indian fabrics and colors

and from then

i just kept going on the move as i

journeyed for 34 years

and i realized that my path

included from becoming

a fashion aspirant to a fashion designer

to a stylist and an innovator

later a fashion house and today

popularly known as a fashion brand

perceptions changed in my own mind and

in my life

i realized that something that was once

a hobby turned out to be coming

something that was my aspiration and

inspiration for life

i turned from a motivator a mentor

to going through the struggle

of working every day

and learning from all my mistakes

i also became someone who loved my work

so much

that the that it showed like a creative

outburst

in my silhouettes and in the magnificent

drama of

colors and fabrics that i used on my

garments

this later became my lifeline and from

then there was no going back

my work my education had given me

all that i needed for life

there is no age or limit to your

creativity

is what i’ve realized

you can’t be thinking out of the box

because

there is no box for your creativity and

your imagination

but to incompensate it into

a beautiful thought process in a

systemized manner

in a form that

creates that beautiful outlook that you

have

in your mind is very the ability to

communicate my design

the ability to

know my technique

and the ability to be able to

communicate

to my client what i have in mind

for them

got me to where i was then another very

important aspect

of my work that has kept the brand to

where it is

and today we are among the top brands of

the country

is the fact that we reinvented with time

the fact that i kept my eyes and ears

open

to what was going on instead of keeping

myself shut and saying this is my design

sensibility this is where i am

i have arrived and i don’t need to go

beyond this people need to know this

no i have kept my eyes and ears open

and understood what

the generation requires what’s the need

of the generation

apart from the younger generation we

have

also who we call middle-aged

understanding their needs understanding

the technique that needs to be followed

for them

was also a very important aspect of my

work apart from being a fashion designer

i am also

an artist a painter

i have started delving into home

ambiance

and now starting a sustainable brand

and moving on to many more stores

because

i feel that life

is giving you so much life is giving you

melons let’s make lemons let’s make

lemonade out of it

and for me that is a very important

aspect

of life i’m greedy for my work

and the more work the better the merrier

and i think that is what you need

to take in your life as

your motto and go with the flow very

important to go with the flow because

whatever you get is part of

what you deserve go with it

enjoy it be excited with it

and do the best you can i amalgamated

weaves with traditional fabrics

and created a hybrid look that became

very globally accepted by the millennium

sorry wearer

along with being fashion conscious in

today’s times i think

a very important aspect that

we need to know to empower ourselves

is the the aspect of sustainability

in today’s times in an in our own little

way

sustainability can also be reusability

in the words of sri gopaldas i don’t

know how many of you know shri

gargopaldas

he said we are very sparing as indians

when a t-shirt is worn out we wear it to

bed

when we can’t even do that we wear it to

on a holy day

and we can’t wear it for holi we use it

as pocha in our houses

that’s what we’re all about but that’s

fantastic the aspect of reusability

brings about sustainability in its own

little way

learn to enjoy reusing your outfits

because experimenting with it styling it

brings out

a new you brings out a new style

statement for you

the cyclical nature of fashion i think

we all know that

trends come you don’t try it because

you’ve never seen it before

but then when somebody near you tries it

you say okay that looks good i’m going

to try it as well

you wear it you like it trends become

popular

you wear it very often and then you get

bored with it

the trends die down and

the trend is either there

not worn kept in your cupboard or thrown

away

throwing those clothes creates

environmental

concerns why not

and we know that once they die down they

come back

very soon why not keep those

outfits carefully the ones that you love

to wear the ones that you like

keep them combine them with the new

trends that come in

and create your own style statement

it’s exciting it’s very very adventurous

because you get to play with your

clothes and you have fun with them

the oscars happened just last week and

we know some of the biggest hollywood

stars

were reused their previously won

outfits we all know about it right

the effort to create an eco-friendly

movement they’ve just not

walked the red carpet but they’ve also

turned it green

i think sustainability is that aspect

of concern phase one

in today’s times that we all need to

look into sustainable fashion but how do

we do it

have fun with your clothes and you’ve

just done it

have fun with your sarees why should

asari just be worn

with a blouse and kept back

why should a wedding outfit be just worn

once i’m only going to wear it once in

my lifetime and keep it back

bring out those blouses combine them

with different things

try your sarees with your jackets with

your pants with your shirts

bring out a new you

bring out a style statement that is

personally you

that’s how we in turn would create a

sustainable

environment i took sustainability one

step further

my own wedding outfit i revived the

embroidery and i used it for my

daughters nishka’s

lehenga combined it with a beautiful

craft

of tanjor art and boy did that outfit

look pretty

i think the cyclical nature of fashion

is something that we all need to look

into

as cycles and trends come and go

so does our thought process to align

that thought process

into being able to create

our own statement is something that’s

the need

perception change has to come

from within you perception change

is systematized

it’s a discipline

and with the winds of change today the

discipline

not only for the younger generation

but even for the older generation

is essential so with a great deal of

humility

and love absolute love and devotion for

what i do

i must say that i have been able to

create

a change in perception with my work

with the little that i do and

i think in my own way i have contributed

a little bit to the change in perception

of fashion of lifestyle

and of thought process

to where i have today i personally feel

and i believe

that moving out of the comfort zone

of what you’ve learned taking each day

and as a learning experience

understanding from that getting wiser

and being excited about what you’re

doing

wanting to do more in life wanting to

achieve

with all the education you have and all

the talent that you have

bring it out there go with the flow

of your work and your thought process be

happy about what you do good bad ugly

it’s going to teach you something it’s

going to reap something someday

it’ll not only create a niche for

yourself but also a wondrous path will

open in front of you

today i realized what was the wondrous

path opened in front of me

for today

here is a backbencher

10 standard pass standing in front of

you on this ted talk platform

thank you