Tie-dye harem pants, embroidered and embellished tunics, textured tops in colours of pink and gray — Chaitanya Rao's collection manages to be eclectic and edgy but, at the same time, feminine and most importantly very wearable.
The Chennai-based designer who has previously shown at Lakme India Fashion Week recently had an exhibit of his designs at also@no8 in the city. ‘Fractals', computer generated geometric shapes, was the basic theme behind his creations. The geometric shapes consisting of swirls, whorls and other patterns were seen throughout the collection — whether in the hand-painted design on a black and white strapless dress or in the cutwork done on a pink layered tunic. The absolute detail that has gone into each piece is something to be admired and appreciated. “My clothes have an international feel,” says Chaitanya. “But, at the same time, it is not over the top.”
The designer balances his own label with designing costumes for films. Chaitanya has designed for actors like Kajal Aggarwal and Trisha, to name a few, and says designing for movies is a different ball game. “The director's sensibilities and the opinions of the choreographer, cinematographer and actor all have to be taken in to account,” he says. “They want more fitted costumes; sometimes the rules of good taste are bent.” Nevertheless, he says he enjoys it, having been doing it for about 15 years now.
When talking about his profession, Chaitanya says he was “born for it”. Not having any formal training in designing, his education came from hands-on experience. Constant sketching, taking a cutting and stitching course in Bangalore, and balancing working with Chennai-based brand Colourplus while doing his degree course in economics all contributed to his learning. Chaitanya says, “At Colourplus I got to see the entire process of manufacturing clothes.”
He has certainly come a long way from there — from setting up his own store in Chennai and showing at fashion weeks to styling for ad shoots and designing costumes for films. Chaitanya's creations have even been featured in Vogue and Harpers Bazaar. “I haven't been to Paris but my clothes have,” he says laughing, about a recent photo spread in Vogue which was shot in Paris in which his designs were featured.
According to him Indian designers are on par with designers abroad and even fashion sensibilities in the country are changing. “We've had designers like Rajesh Pratap Singh and Sabyasachi showing at London Fashion Week and New York Fashion Week,” he says. “Even among consumers the conservative approach to fashion is changing; the younger generation especially is willing to experiment and show their individuality through the clothes they wear.”
