How the designer Vivek Karunakaran use fashion to break traditional stereotypes

Copyright © HT Digital Streams Limit all rights reserved. Fashion designer Vivek Karunakaran with models at the recent Chettinad Heritage Festival. Summary The fashion designer in Chennai talks to Lounge about his latest collection of Idam, his new creative project, Adayalam, and why he likes to have the tradition of his clothes for Chennai-based fashion designer Vivek Karunakaran, the display window of his new collection, Idam, on the recent Chettinad Heritage Festival, Herbegin has . “I think I was very sure of what I wanted to say until I took the first step on stage and handed over the microphone. I became completely empty and completely emotional, ‘said Karunakaran of the show held in the 118-year-old Chidambara Vilas Heritage Palace in Karaikudi, Tamil Nadu. The Palace’s main show Arena (Kalyanakottagai), done in mere curtains cut against Chettinad pillars with wheat shakes, served as the ramp where male and female models walked out in designs in a color palette dominated by a striking red-white combination, metal tone and sparkling Bijoux. While Karunakaran displayed the Idam -Mans’ Line in the FDCI India weekend in the Diggi Palace in Jaipur in The collection, as the press note describes, is “a tribute to a place, identity and belongs.” “I was very excited that we (my collection) could show Idam, given what it is and where it came from in a background like Chidambara Villas, because it is so deeply rooted in history, tradition and culture,” Karunakaran says before expanding the core of the collection. “What we wanted to do through the showcase of this line is to tell the world that we are plunged into our culture, tradition and everything that makes us rooted. But at the same time, we are also imagining it again in a way that brings a more global relevance. ” This re -imagination has translated itself to clothes that are tremendously sexual fluid. “We have a veshtis that can be worn by women, we have Bandhgalas for men and women, we also have a casing for both the sexes. The collection is a beautiful merger of gender flow silhouettes. ‘ During the show, Karunanakaran chose to present his modern interpretation of tradition by not only the clothes, but also the general appearance of the models. “If you lay a shirt with a waistcoat, a jacket and a veshti and show it before the grandeur of a Chidambara vilas, and the model completely set up with two braids -” a South Indian way of doing the hair ” -decorated in Ghungrus (single) and Malli Poo (Jasmine Blommed), it is a modern interpretation. Tradition is not as stereotypical as one thinks it is, “he explains. Another highlight for Karunakaran at the festival was the inauguration of Adayalam, a traveling cultural platform he envisaged to support and promote Indian fashion, arts and crafts and design (more on this later). A few days after the showcase, Karunakaran sat down for a free chat with Lounge about a video call to talk about his latest collection, the vision he has for Adayalam, and which lets him tap as a fashion designer for 18 years. Edited excerpts: Identity and one’s roots are the themes of your collection, Idam and Adayalam. Whether it is food, films or fashion, these are topics that are getting hard. How many of what is happening around you came in this collection? Where does the initial seed for the collection come from? When I started my journey in 2007 in Lakmé Fashion week, one thing that struck me very strongly was the emotion of how the south was seen in terms of fashion. I’m not going to choose it, but I feel that (perception) my need only – to change the narrative – to change more strongly. That said, it was only over the past two years that I gained the clarity and maturity to understand how important it is to celebrate yourself and where you come from instead of adjusting to fit. I think for me (Idam) is about this interesting, revelation journey I have had for the past 18 years. Look at the full image The model wears a UK hut with a ‘cural’ block pressure, accompanied by a veshti from the Idam collection. The collection is a rich play of motifs, be it the Jasmine, the Thirkkural text or even the Madras checks. Please elaborate on the work that has led to bringing them alive on your clothes. The jasmine is a very integral part of Idam. It was a very strong element in the collection of men’s clothing, where I had the men to wear Veshtis with jasmine, and we had the jasmine motif as beautiful applications and embroidery on men’s shirts. In this more recent collection, we restarted the jasmine in every possible form … as printed, as embroidery, as cutting and as applications. Similarly, we restarted the Madras checks without using Madras checks-we created the textures through stitching. The script you see in the collection is inspired by the Thirukkural, written hundreds and hundreds of years ago by Saint Thiruvalluvar. There are about 1113 curals, but I chose one that talks about humility. We created a checkered pattern with the Kural block on it. The whole idea, you see, is to tell the world that we are so creatively excited about so much that we have to offer, and it doesn’t have to be what you’ve always seen. This is the new us. Let’s talk about Adayalam, described as a traveling showcase. Is it a concept that has been in your mind for some time? Are you planning to take it to different cities? What do you see it growing? Adayalam was born of an emotion that roasted a very long time in me – the fact that it is so important to support local. The way I envisage it, I want Adayalam to be a canvas for storytelling that is relevant to the ‘identity’ of our crafts and the craftsmen. And when I say craftsmen, I’m not just talking about weavers or potters. I speak of everyone and everyone who has a certain craft that they want to bring to the world. I’m talking about chefs, dancers, fashion designers, weavers – everyone and everyone who has a creative streak. Most importantly, we create this platform for these people and their crafts celebrated with one core intention … and it is not to create a pulley or story to have it write in the newspaper. The intention is to ensure that it creates a transaction, a sale. It’s about securing their ‘roti, kapda, makan’. Because only if you have resolved ‘roti, kapda, makan’ will you have the thought space to think of the next collection, to invest in a new thought, a new idea. I hope and believe that Adayalam becomes a movement where we can travel with people, traveling with the crafts, sharing it with people and seeing how we can support each other. Look at the full Beeld Vivek Karunakaran’s Idam collection is filled with gender fluid designs. You have spent 18 years in fashion design. What is it necessary to be a junk breaker designer? What are some lessons you learned along the way? I come from an extremely humble middle -class family in Trivandrum. My father was an engineer, mom a teacher, and everything I know what I learned by looking at them works very hard to make a living. One of the most beautiful qualities for which I am very grateful to my parents is perseverance, which helped me to stay the course, because this journey was difficult. There were many up and downs, many challenges and just like that, many beautiful things that happened to us in the course of this journey. It was exceptionally overwhelming to look back and remember how I started this business of a 200 square meter after borrowing 20,000 rupees from a friend. Through this journey, one of the most important things I have learned to adapt is to develop without losing sight of the principles in which one believes. Finally, if you believe in what you do and persevere, people will respect you for who you are. The collection is back to Idam and is a tribute to Chennai, the city where my label was born and cherished. Catch all the business news, market news, news reports and latest news updates on Live Mint. Download the Mint News app to get daily market updates. More Topics #Fashion Market #Fashion Industry #Luxury #Luxury Purchase #Textile Read next story