The bright yellow walls give a warm feel to the Nadiya Design Studio at Gandhipuram. Displayed are rows of frocks, sari blouses and crop tops in cotton, silk and jute designed by founders of the studio, Supriya Manokaran and Anitha Krishnan. They have been friends for 15 years and launched this studio five years ago. They claim their designs are based on perfect fit and comfort.
What sets the two apart is not just their designs. Their soon-to-be released online campaign Dakini for their latest line of blouses will also spread the message of body positivity. “Society has set certain rules for a right body for women. But, the truth is that most people do not fall in that category. We want to break all such notions,” says Anitha.
Supriya says she is not new to body shaming. “It happens to me on a regular basis. People pass comments, say my body is not proportionate or feel free to comment on my clothing choices. It affected me as a child, but now I know better.” Supriya and Anitha say their mission is to make women confident in their own skin. Their campaign will feature women entrepreneurs from the city because they wanted ‘real’ women and not models.
So how did they go about it? They say that they have been mulling over the idea since March, but everything fell in place only now. “Initially we selected 37 women of which we shortlisted 12. Our social media pages will describe the reason behind this initiative and profile the women featured. It will have a short description of their contribution to society.
Supriya and Anitha met the women to understand their body types before designing blouses in cotton and jute. “The line is trendy and features blouses with bell sleeves, shirt collars and jackets to be worn over saris. We have also used a variety of drapes for the shoot,” explains Anitha. The project took two months from planning to execution. “We collaborated with Coimbatore-based photographer Akshaya Chandrasekharan, The Amethyst Store in Erode for jewellery and Studio Virupa, Tiruppur for the saris,” says Supriya.
In keeping with their philosophy, Anitha and Supriya want to launch a line that upcycles saris. “We will add embellishments and give them a new look. Customers can also bring their old saris to us,” says Supriya.
Dakini will be launched both offline and online on June 7. The online campaign will be on till June 22. The price range is from ₹1100 to ₹2300.
