Dyeing to create designs

Her passion for fashion led her to create her own label – Krsnah

July 29, 2015 08:53 pm | Updated 08:53 pm IST

Malini creates trendy clothes. Photo: V. Sreenivasa Moorthy

Malini creates trendy clothes. Photo: V. Sreenivasa Moorthy

Armed with 23 years of “hands-on” training in some of the top apparel companies across the country, Malini Muddappa decided to start her own line of clothing called Krsnah. “It means the colour black in Sanskrit. I started my own line because the higher I went up in my professional ladder, I realised I was doing more managerial work than designing. So I quit my job and started my own design studio and working with handlooms,” explains Malini.

She started working with artisans across the country using traditional dyeing, printing and weaving techniques. “The ideology of the brand was to keep it simple and to make clothes for women that fit her rather than expecting her to fit in to them.”

Krsnah offers kurtas, tops, dupattas, saris, ready-to-wear mix ’n’ match blouses and also some western clothes using the Indian fabric and prints. “Fabrics are sourced directly from the weavers in Tamil Nadu and Andhra Pradesh,” says this self-taught designer, who uses traditional printing techniques of ajrakh from Gujrat, crafts from Bagru (Rajasthan) and kalamkari from Andhra to name a few. She adds that she uses colours such as indigo, veg-dyed hues of turmeric, kumkum, leaf greens, and orange to name a few.

Malini says that she designs out of sheer passion is not “trained. I always had a passion for clothes and had my first exhibition when I was 21. Fashion was a passion for me. I always knew that I would do something with the fabric even when it came to choosing a profession.”

That’s how Malini ended up in the garment industry. “I worked with in-house designers and learnt the art of designing at work. It gave me exposure to marketing and sales skills and exposed me to the way the product was packaged, dealing with the clients and so on. My work place became my school.”

Now, 25 years later, Malini claims that her forte is style and cut, and the use handlooms or power looms. She loves to work with cottons, silk cottons, khadi and linen blends. Though she is into ethnic wear, she also custom makes skirts, palazzos and jump suits using these traditional crafts.

“I am not driven out by churning out numbers. Nor am I into creating bling. My clothes are for women who want to be dressed elegantly and yet, not draw too much attention towards oneself. I assure you that my designs will not go out of fashion for they’ve got to do more with style rather than fashion trends.”

To purchase her products you can go on to her face book page Studio Krsnah or call her 9980032527.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.