In an hour-long conversation with Divya Niranjan, the designer mentions wax linen at least a dozen times. That’s how much she is in love with the fabric. “I saw it on Project Runway and asked my father to bring me some from the US,” says Divya, holding up a piece of the tan fabric that’s found itself in the form of detailing in almost all the pieces of her new collection. Titled Dastkari, it features handmade hand-crafted clothes, primarily in khadi. “I’ve also used suiting linen and kashida embroidered fabrics. The khadi that we have used is made in Ponduru town in Andhra Pradesh,” adds Divya, who started the label Blueprint Coleccion in 2015, along with her elder sister Navya., in Chennai.
Their first collection was titled Karkhana followed by Gaatha and now Dastkari. While the names of their lines are essentially Indian, their designs are modern. There are strategically cut-out jumpsuits, jackets, pants, off-shoulder, full-length shirts, off-shoulder and one-shoulder tunics... Comfort is what the 19-piece collection is all about.
Lasting appeal
“The clothes can be worn through summer and all year round. We don’t follow trends; so, our clothes are relevant five years later too,” says Divya. Navya, who does most of the designing, says, “We make clothes once a year and call it Fall-Winter. We start preparing six months in advance, and by September, all the designs are ready.”
Their garments are structured with strong silhouettes, and it is for this reason that the sisters often call themselves architects instead of designers. “We take a lot of menswear staples and transform them for women. You can see bandhgalas, dhoti pants, kurtas created for women, with a twist and enough detailing so it stands out,” adds 36-year-old Navya.
Since Navya is currently based out of Santa Clara, the sisters carry out much of their label discussions over video calls. Luckily for them, their design aesthetics are similar, so there are no arguments on the work front. Interestingly, neither of the girls studied fashion. Both have been interested in art and painting. Divya worked as a teacher in a play school for a couple of years and then joined a city-based fashion designer as her production manager.
Two years later, Divya felt it was time to try something new, and Blueprint Coleccion was born. So far, Sonam Kapoor, Vidya Balan, Taapsee Pannu and Richa Chadha, among other celebrities, have worn outfits created by Blueprint. About 90% of the label’s clients are from Mumbai, Kolkata and Delhi. In Chennai, however, the brand is lesser known, and the sisters can’t seem to figure out why. It retails out of MaalGaadi and is available online on Nete, Ikkivi and The Fashion Barn.
The duo believes that detailing adds that something extra to an outfit. All the buttons are made of mother of pearl and the insides of the outfits too have no loose stitches. The present collection features loop detailing, frills, belts and piping on the collars, sleeves, lapels and trousers. Some of the pieces have long cuffs that cover most of the palm. “I was delighted to see a lot of international fashion houses such as Balmain, Zimmermann and Monse too using long cuffs in their creations for recent fashion weeks. In 2015, for our début collection, we did cut-away collars, and when we saw Jason Wu do similar a collar for his 2017 collection, we were sure that design-wise we are heading in the right direction,” signs off 32-year-old Divya.
