'Sharman is perfect Size 40'

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So, what's unique about your latest collection?
My association with Chivas goes a long way...almost four years now. Hence I am aware of the key elements that are the brand essentials...I played on those factors to make sure that the synergy comes alive. Normally I show a lot of day clothing; but for Chivas...it's about evening. So the two keys that immediately came to my mind are elegance and sophistication.

You have used a dark palette...rather a black palette for your collection. Why?
There was this very interesting article in a magazine in UK some months ago; there was a lady called Nancy , who lived through the 90s...her entire wardrobe was only black.

Like Simi Garewal wears only white?
Sort of. But still you see Simi at times wearing some other colour. But Nancy wore only black. There was something about that character that really excited me. There was not much to research on...all I could know that she was very glamourous in her youth. Then, she started wearing a lot of layers during her middle age. And she always wore an overcoat and closed necks in the evening. And I have come up with the 'All Black' collection.

This is the first time your showcased the collection?
There is no point in repetition. I don't like that. There must have a synergy between the event and the collection, or else it won't look like a fashion show. I always make sure that from the shoes, to the accessories ...both for men and women...everything has to look engineered.

What are the fabrics you used?
A lot of satin; this season is all about shimmer. So, lots of shine, tone-on-tone embellishments. One interesting thing I have done is a modernized version of what we commonly know as a tuxedo; but for women, in different ways. Like, tuxedo dress...dresses done in the form of tuxedo. And then done modern adaptations of the 'bandhgala'.

Why did you choose Sharmaan Joshi as the showstopper?
Very few people know that Sharman is a perfect Size 40; just a few inches shorter than our perfect model size.

Coming to fashion in general, how will you define the evolution of fashion over the past five decades in India?
Fashion has to evolve; otherwise it won't be fashionable.

But there are certain cuts that are coming back in fashion ...
Of course. It is a full circle. Just take the past 10-15 years, there are many things that we did; died out and again came back. In the last 15 years there has been such deep effect of consumerism, which has diluted to some extent, stamp of a trend, unlike the 60s, 70s, or even 80s. Before that there were very few high street retailers. Also the designer labels were limited to French couturier brands. Today it's such a focused business that if a trend is going to remain a trend for too long, the balance sheets will be bad. No? If you buy a black jacket and we (designers) keep harping on the fact that black is 'in' for the next 8 months, you are not going to buy anything else. So trends have become super market trends; they are off the self before you know it; you can no longer frame a trend and say 'The last decade was about....'. Before you can do it, something else becomes 'fashion'. And so what goes on is not all human, there is a bit picture in play.

That means, it will be difficult to trace the trend of 2010?
It's an interesting question. If we go back to the 60s, 70s, 80s and 90s, and see what were the interesting things...say, the flower power, the strong prints, the bright pinks of the 60s...all started in the mid decade. It was not the early half. Similarly, if you look at the 80s, and see when Madonna happened, or the horizontal stripes or the long T-shirts, it's all around '83-86. There are reasons behind it. Like you mentioned sometime back, we always refer to trends in terms of decades. The beginning and end of a decade is a very confusing time for fashion...something going to end and something going to start; but you don't know what! A lot of it is not necessarily be influenced by fashion; especially in today's time...by people, music, art, movies, food, streets...to be honest, the tenures are really open and high in the first two years of a decade. What you observe then, set the mood of the rest of the decade. So it's really too early to comment on the trend of 2010 right now. There will be some basic things of course...like pastels will be 'in' for men, dresses will be shorter for women, focus will be on shoulders and sleeved, pants will be fitted, go for pants over skirts...but these are more generic things; nothing earth-shattering.

Do you dress up Bollywood celebs?
A lot of them have been buying my clothes for the last 3-4 years. I prefer working with them on a personal level than in films; because that demands a lot of my time, which is impossible. Also, now-a-days, stars wear a lot of their own clothes in films and they have their stylists behind the designers. They are mixing the clothes and wearing them in films. Salman bhai (Khan) have been wearing my clothes everywhere, if you have noticed. Katrina also wears a lot of my dresses.

Which is the one Bollywood star whom you want to dress up?
Akshay Kumar

What's your fashion statement?
I wear a lot of jeans ...I feel that as my second skin. Mostly a nice white shirt, a nice jacket and a pair of jeans is what you will find me in.

Are you working on a new collection right now?
We are just in the middle of finishing Winter 2010. And then, post March one will again be fishing and driving for all things exciting for Summer and Spring of 2011.