Cousins — you share secrets with them, fight as well as bond with them. Sometimes they are also your best friends. Strangely, first cousins Parkavi Ramasamy and Harsha Vardhini, who are related, both maternally and paternally, never met each other as children. However, when they did meet as adults last year, the two got along and realised they shared a similar aesthetic and a love for designing. All it took was that one meeting and Pahar India was launched.
“The company was earlier called Ewa Lifestyle and we started off showcasing at coffee mornings in Kochi, Bangalore and Chennai,” says Parkavi. The cousins then decided to launch a new brand and call it Pahar, a portmanteau of both their names, while Ewa Lifestyle is the parent company. In Chennai, they retail their clothes out of Tifara. But the production unit is in Salem — that is also where their families reside. Which means Parkavi and Harsha spend their week shuttling to and fro. “We leave from Salem at 3 in the morning, get here in time for breakfast, work and then go back the same night,” laughs 24-year-old Harsha, the younger of the two.
Their first collection here is a mix of casual and party wear. While the colourful casuals exude a careless and laid-back charm, the eveningwear looks regal with golden embroidery, and applique work. “We stuck to the black and gold combination for this because its party season and people would be looking at cocktail outfits,” says Harsha. It’s a mix of Indian, Indo- western and comprises dhoti pants, tunics, anarkalis, anarkali gowns, jackets, shorts, corsets. The designers predominantly work with raw silk, Chanderi, crepe, georgette and matka silk, though a few of their creations are in cotton and linen.
ADVERTISEMENT
There are around 74 pieces in all, each unique,; no two pieces are the same. The entire collection was completed in a month. “The preparation for the launch felt like I was getting married," laughs Harsha and adds, “We were scouting for venues, sampling food, the family was buying saris, clothes and jewellery for the launch.”
Talking about the market here, 32-year-old Parkavi says, she is pleasantly surprised to see a 40-year-old client pick an outfit that she would ordinarily have expected a younger client to go for. “It was a structured long dress with a scalloped cut in front that shows quite a bit of leg,” she smiles. The buying patterns show older women investing in dresses; and asymmetrical cuts and loud prints doing exceptionally well in Chennai. The duo is now working on a beige and off-white Pashmina collection. There will also be hand- painted tunics and patterns will range from florals and geometric shapes to abstracts in vibrant shades.