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Fashion with feeling

PHOTO: Murali Kumar K.

Elegant n’ tasteful: Designer Deepika Govind and models in her creations

Designer Deepika Govind was studying for the IAS, after completing her MA in Economics from Stella Maris College, Chennai, but was disillusioned with the bureaucracy and politics of the profession.

“I was an idealist and I wanted to serve the people.” When she was growing up, she gifted friends and family redesigned clothes and jewellery. “The 80s were about loose trousers and platform shoes, and fashion designing chose me,” says Deepika, at her studio.

“As a designer, it was either Bombay or Delhi, and I chose Delhi.” She loves Delhi as her customers are more knowledgeable about textiles. “I appreciate the monuments — from Humayun’s Tomb to Purana Qila, the emporiums, and Chandni Chowk as you would find the most unbelievable things. I also enjoy the lung space and the flowers of Delhi.”

She finds that fashion in the South is underplayed and classy. “Loud, sequined dresses are outrageous on the human body, as the person is lost. The South focuses more on weaves than embroidery, and is about controlling colours.” But now, Deepika notices there is no individuality when it comes to either designer wear or fashion sense.

“There is no time and everything is slapdash. Prescribed fashion does not look into the wearer’s character.” She feels it’s a shame that the sari or the simple and straightforward salwar kameez is not explored and adapted to suit daily office wear.

“There is a lack of the Indian element in the uniforms prescribed for offices. And where it is used, the patterns are outdated. Designing for women is about emphasising on elegance, femininity, compassion and poise. Ultimately, it is very important for the personality of the wearer to come through,” says Deepika, who also designs for men.

“Fashion can do a lot to instil pride and respect in a conventional garment or textile,” says Deepika, who has worked on Ikat with craftspeople from Orissa in an ongoing project.

“Working with Ikat was about blending silks and natural fibres, creating finer, more unique new age textiles and weaving together the fabric of two periods. The warp of the ancient was woven with the weft of the modern.” When it comes to fabric she interweaves threads of technology and tradition, like khadi and tencel.

Deepika has always thought of fabric and drape as the Alpha and Omega of the fashion alphabet. She uses fashion as “a medium to voice concerns about the environment and to revive fading textile traditions. It is also about the resurrection of dying crafts and the status of women. My mission is to be a part of an effort to further an ethical, eco-friendly fashion. I hold sacred the sensitive touch of the human hand, the meditative ideas of the weaver. My aim is to bring to life the value of natural fibre, a hand-woven textile, and a hand-crafted ensemble.”

This year, Deepika exhibited her works at the Chivas in Fashion Tour with “A Loose Kite on a Gentle Wind” in Delhi, Bangalore, and Kolkata earlier this month, and at the Wills India Fashion Week, New Delhi, in March. She plans to launch a bridal collection and is also closely associated with the Karnataka Silks Industries Corporation (KSIC), in their bid to preserve the heritage of the Mysore silk sari. She has just launched ‘Colour threads from Hampi and Belur: A Collection of Crepe silk saris’. “It was an effort of several months, working with different dye combinations, before we found dyes which did not bleed during degumming. It is given an enzyme wash to make the four story boards of the Indian lotus, palmette, lily and leaf scroll and 13 colour designs.

The collection is eco-friendly and has motifs inspired by the ancient civilisations of Halebidu, Hampi and Belur. She says what matters are the weaves, the dyes and the fall. The mother of two also works with an NGO in Uttaranchal to create a tusssar blend. As part of this, there is an effort to create a new range of fabrics, and weave the pattern of the Himalayan bird series.

Deepika is also working on a range of stoles and shawls, even as she is in the process of setting up a vegetable-dying unit in Bangalore. She also hopes to rekindle her brush with khadi and bring it to the international platform. Deepika is very eager to work with original muga silk yarn which offers natural UV ray protection.

Deepika, who weaves art, literature and philosophy into her designs, has launched a festive fusion line with a mélange of fabrics like brocade, silk Ikat, crushed silk, satin silk and silk tissue, with a hint of antique embroidery and a dash of print to create silhouettes — short, frock-style tunics, ruche silk churidhars, saris and long evening dresses.

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