Chandigarh, April 13
Sharan Kumar, may be rubbing shoulders with fashion gurus like Ritu Kumar, Nita Lala and many top of the line fashion designers, but when it comes to retaining her individuality, she has done a successful job of fortifying herself against outside influence. And this when in a city where designers are dime a dozen, you can spot her creations from a mile for the magic they conjure.
As you enter her workshop in Sector 16, you can not but help get mesmerised with her creations, right from traditionally embroidered salwar suits to trendy Indo-western outfits in elegant cuts and designs to stunning bridal outfits - its all there, ready to be worn.
The latest fashion these days are the traditional shading work and cutwork on short length curtas and parallel, says Mrs Kumar who with four glamourous daughters of her own, is quick to get a feel of the fashion pulse. As she makes herself comfortable in her tastefully done up drawing room in the same building where her workshop is located, she recalls the initial days of her career.
“Though I studied Psychology during college days, I ventured into the world of fashion as a designer mother for my four daughters,” she says. As Aanchal Kumar, the famous model, who is the youngest of the lot, entered the glamour industry it also gave her an opportunity to experiment on a wider scale.
“Though I have been designing on a professional capacity since 1993, after Aanchal won the Gladrags Mega Model contest in 1999, I started designing outfits for video albums too,” she added. Now she designs for the upcoming models of this region.
Beginning with only one helper initially, she now owns a business in which about 20 people work for her day and night. But when it comes to creating a design, deciding on the colour combination, cut and embroidery, she handles it singlehandedly. Though the price is a bit on the higher side, her creations have never failed to impress the fashion conscious people of City Beautiful.
“Honesty is the bottomline of my creations,” says Mrs. Kumar. “I never go out in the market to copy the latest trends, my designs begin to take shape only after I assess my client’s personality , the positive and the negative points of her looks,” she adds.
How about taking tips from the famous designers that she has come in contact with ? “Designers like Ritu Beri or Nita Lala may be geniuses on their own right but when it comes to the practicability of their creations, they are not applicable for the people of this region”, she says.
So even as she is in close contact with the ‘hot’ designers, she never allows herself to be influenced by them. “I do not even read fashion books for that matters, because it will be absurd to copy those fashions for an environment such as ours, where it will not blend with our lifestyle,” she adds.
