Ashish N Soni speaks to Asmita Sarkar about the different roles the modern Indian woman fulfils and how that inspired him to make clothes that transform
The modern woman is a multi-tasker and hard pressed for time, switching between role plays. A normal day looks chaotic with chores like dropping children to school while going to work and maybe joining colleagues for formal evenings to crack a deal worth lakhs. These super women are thus unable to find suitable time for themselves and their styling needs. In such a situation, do-it-yourself fashion comes to the rescue.
“The modern Indian woman has so many different needs. She is travelling, working, she is multi-faceted. The concept for my new collection came from this lack of time. How will you transform clothes, hair and look effortlessly to fill all these shoes? Styling needs have increased substantially but you cannot carry a bag full of change in your car,” said fashion designer Ashish of the brand Ashish N Soni. “People commute for long hours and have different roles to play, where is the time to go to a salon every day, where is the time to get styling help?” he asked.
To answer these questions, his latest collection is based on the concept of metamorphosis that helps transform one’s look from casual to formal, daywear to evening wear with its different different layers and silhouettes. “Lift the collar and it becomes something else, remove the scarf and it’s more easy-going, open the jacket and you have a nice interesting blouse which you carry in your bag that you can change into quickly to make it into an evening wear. The outfit that was meant for work can easily become something else,” he said.
The collection was a “see now, buy now” one for AW 2018 season for which he used a variety of silhouettes and fabrics, something that he doesn’t do usually. He used lightweight wool, wool crepe, polyviscose for drapes along with heavy satin, cutwork organzas and jacquards, which were seen in a light Japanese dress and pant suit. Assymetry defined the silhouettes, best seen in a trouser with only one side of wide bottom and jackets that are different on each side.
He also used the idea of Siamese twins to juxtapose two looks with similar fabrics and silhouettes but are remodelled entirely because of the styling. “I wanted to show the togetherness that one could have. I was creating an illusion,” he said.
The designer also created uniforms for an all-women SWAT team in India. “While making the uniform, I thought they should look approachable and feel good about themselves. Their comfort factor was important and to an ordinary citizen they should be easily identifiable in an emergency situation. With traditional khakis, it’s difficult to tell them apart in an emergency situation. So the brief I received was about using blue and we experimented with camouflage blue to create the outfit,” he said. Fast and furiously feisty, we say.
