Menswear designing in India
My name is Renuka G U and I am a fashion designer. I completed my graduation from Esmod, a Paris-founded institute. I majored in Fashion Designing and Pattern Drafting. My collections mainly contain shirts for men. Being raised in a rich multinational society, I'm influenced by nature, different cultures, art and architecture. This also inspires me to create garments that are interesting, sophisticated and distinct.
I feel that there needs to be a change in the men’s silhouette. “Basically when women get to have that much variety in their silhouettes, why not men?” I ask.
The Entrepreneur
Coming from a business background, where my family owns a company in Dubai, I have always considered being an entrepreneur as the most ideal thing to happen. With having to express my own ideas in the terms of creativity, making a fashion label was an ideal idea of expression.
I worked for a bank for few months and it was during this period I realized that I would like to enroll to a fashion school to try my hand at creating garments, where my interests lay. I was soon in a French fashion school getting a degree in Fashion Designing and Pattern Drafting. I enriched my understanding thereafter by working in a boutique for few years before starting my own label.
Hardships on my journey towards entrepreneurship
One of the main challenges for me was to get a workshop and a master who would understand my designs well to produce them. Since I was shuffling between Mumbai and Dubai, I had a hard time in getting the right place to produce the garment - and of course meeting a variety of people and going through the entire cycle of struggling till a right person was found was a painful process. Another issue I faced was quantity. I found that any factory or workshop would require to produce an enormous no of 1000+ for every style which was not ideal for a startup brand. It gives me great satisfaction that now I have found a workshop where my designs are understood, and made as per my requirements.
Also, I had to hunt for fabrics as menswear usually is limited to the conservative colors of blues, greys and whites. I now import fabrics from Hong Kong where I feel I can connect with the colors that I like to see the men in!
The Process of Product Creation
At first I create a mood board along with the color board. Then I choose the fabrics accordingly. Subsequently, I try and test them for color fading and color bleeding and shrinkage. I then create a style which I think I would like to use. Color synchronization is the next step. Lastly, samples are made and a move to production is initiated.
The Outcome
The brand that reflects endless compassion in terms of colors, styles, cuts, and variety. I hope that my brand creates maximum impact through its inherent creative themes. Colors are used as expression of one's mood for the day. I would like to use more non-traditional colors for men as well more selection in terms of style and cuts.
The pricing plays a very important role. It is based on where the fabric comes from and the amount of time it takes to perfect the details in the designs.
Looking into future
I hope the Menswear brand attracts men who want to look different from the crowd. I am designing, creating and producing a brand where my aim is to help my customers to easily relate with my brand message. I plan to extend the brand to more range of clothing in men, like t-shirts and jackets. I am already working on collection for Indian festive wear for men. I have set for myself a target in the coming year, of educating more number of people about the brand. Perhaps, it will be not out of place to mention here that I also plan to introduce maternity workwear for women in the near future.
I believe my strength of creativity, attention to detail, imagination, fabric recognition skills, sewing and pattern drafting ability and knowledge of color combinations will help me achieve my dream.
