The Ides of July 2016 won’t be forgotten by Nachiket Barve any time soon. The 35-year-old Mumbai designer won the regional round of the India-Middle East International Woolmark Prize 2016/17 in the Women’s Wear category on that day; he will represent India in the finals in January 2017.
“I was thrilled by the opportunity and grateful that all the hard work and research paid off,” Barve says. “I cannot enumerate the feelings. I knew I had done the best I could and didn’t stress over the situation once I did my part.”
The award, introduced in 1953, recognises exemplary design using Australian merino wool; it has been won by fashion legends such as Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent. Meriono wool, which comes from one of the world’s most ancient breed of sheep, is known for its elasticity, softness and breathability. If Barve brings home the award in January, it would be a hat-trick for Indian fashion at the prestigious International Woolmark Prize; Delhi’s menswear designer Suket Dhir won last year, and fellow National Institute of Design alumnus Rahul Mishra in 2015.
But Barve, who has dressed everyone from Aishwarya Rai Bachchan to Anushka Sharma from Bollywood, isn’t worrying about the pressure of expectations. “One can’t lead one’s life as a reaction to the world’s thoughts,” he says. “You do what you do, as long as you have integrity, passion, focus and enjoy what you do. Those are the key things. I believe in the saying of the Gita : ‘Do your duty but don’t stress about the results.’ Rest is up to the larger forces.”
Wool is a new medium for him, and he has said that some of the pieces in his winning collection Tupilmania were a result of 1,200 hours of painstaking handwork. “I have been exploring Merino wool over the last few seasons, and am excited by it as a material. The concept for the Woolmark Prize amalgamates technique with a malleable versatile material. The product has to be special for people to fall in love with it. Wool is not a difficult fabric. However, the biggest challenge is in moulding people’s perception of it as a winter wear or a menswear fabric.”
Flower power
For this collection, Barve was inspired by still-life paintings of flowers by 17th century Dutch masters Rembrandt and Ambrosius Bosschstill. He says, “The tulip is not only a metaphor for love but was venerated by Dutch painters in the golden age of Dutch art. The price of a single tulip bulb [in the early 17th Century] escalated till it cost as much as a house in Amsterdam or a skilled worker’s annual wages! This was followed by a sudden crash. The phenomenon was called Tulip Mania and what interested me about it was the fact that it is akin to the ‘use and throw’ nature of the fashion cycle today.”
Barve will be competing with Faustine Steinmetz from the British Isles, Gabriela Hearst from U.S., Australian label Macgraw, Tim Labenda from Germany and Toton from Indonesia. He hasn’t seen the works of his competitors yet: “Honestly, it’s been a blur since the prize. But as a designer it is increasingly important to stay true to yourself and your beliefs. I have great affinity to working with merino wool and playing with its different forms. I am driven by innovation and feel that is my biggest strength.”
He says that there’s been a shift in the way the world perceives Indian fashion after Rahul Mishra and Suket Dhir won the Woolmark in the last two years. “They have both had wonderful reception from the world. Today Indian fashion is not local but ready for the world. However, we are still only a small player in the larger scheme of things as far as being a fashion hub is concerned. There’s a long way to go and many milestones to reach.” He is hopeful that India’s wins on platforms like the Woolmark award will shift focus to the underexplored category of as knitwear in India. “There is a lot of scope for designer knitwear. I hope this leads to out-of-the-box innovation with knitwear for our market.”
And now, onward to the award? “Lots of hard work, more research and development and tons of excitement. Can’t wait!”
The author is a freelance writer
