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