I have been doing sustainable fashion over 10 years and it's been a wonderful journey so far. I think it is very important to have your own design to develop your design language in the sense that you can get inspired by other established designers but at the end of the day it has to be a reflection of who you are and what you stand for. Most importantly you can't be a copy cat and become successful.
1. Tell us about your background and journey.
It's been a very long journey according to me. It was something which was not really planned but I just went into whole steer of design because I felt that this was the only way that I can express myself and this is what really made me happy.
I graduated in Psychology and I was contemplating of becoming a counsellor but Design has been an integral part of my childhood in a way that my parents, grandmother are very talented and I used to help them in doing embroidery works. Even during my childhood I always play with fabrics, draping constantly.
I used to learn to drape sarees in many different ways so I used to make dresses without cutting the saree. That was the foundation for me where my love for designing originated. I never went to a fashion school though I had a plan of doing my higher studies abroad but I couldn't get the visa as those days it is very difficult to get. I just accepted it and had the confidence and was trying to find an alternative way for my solution.
I started to dive into design and organized many exhibitions. Back then it was like that, many people did not do western and indo-western clothes. I always have a different aesthetic and my designs are different from the usual so I always got noticed for my dressing.
That is the thing that led me to the path of films and I subsequently designed for all top stars of those days like Nagar juna, Venkatesh, Preity zinta, Shreya saran, Angela Davis. I was the first pioneer to design professionally for most of the Telugu films. Before that we had a person for dressing but it was not professional.
Then I did a lot of films which are of huge success and even today people remember those movies for the clothes. I had a great experience and after a while I thought that I wanted to pay more expressive in terms of who I am as a person because when you are a costume designer you are putting out somebody else views.
Here I wanted my design sensibility to come through and my label to be born so I decided to come away from movies and launch my own label and then subsequently I took part in Lakme fashion week in 2008 and I have to say that there hasn't been any looking back. Actually there wasn't any looking back since I put my heart and soul in designing.
When you love what you do, it never feels like a work because you always feel excited to do it. So, yes and I have established a label which is very unique and it's for the independent free thinking women and I brought in sustainability even before it became a password I have to say. I have been doing sustainable fashion over 10 years and it's been a wonderful journey so far.
2. Should blogging be just a passion or can it become a regular career?
Yes. Why not. I think it can become a regular career because today the way we see ecommerce, fashion and many have become digitalized and of course with this pandemic happening I think that bloggers should be authentic and it shouldn't be all about money.
It should be who you are and who you represent and you need to build that kind of trust. I feel that you need to be true to who you are and represent and talk about brands which resonate with you and your view point.
3. What are the challenges you face in order to make your blogging a successful one?
According me, we need to constantly be interactive and sometimes I just don't want to be interactive and go into a phase where I don't want to communicate. I have kept my page very reflective of who I am.
Sometimes you would see me publishing 5 posts in a week and sometimes you would see me posting only 1 post in two weeks. I have never been enslaved. You have to enjoy your life and celebrate it. It's not about deadlines.
4. How can one become a successful designer according to you?
I think it is very important to have your own design to develop your design language in the sense that you can get inspired by other established designers but at the end of the day it has to be a reflection of who you are and what you stand for. Most importantly you can't be a copy cat and become successful.
It has to come from within and that's what I feel. I may not be selling in huge numbers but I am very comfortable with the fact that I am selling for the right people who really value my clothes. I am selling to the professional women who believe in slow fashion and fashion which is time less.
I design things which you can wear over years. I believe in quality and sense of individuality. I really don't make too many pieces of the same design. Everything has something special and unique and that's how I have established my label which is growing successful globally.
5. Do you often have to keep upskilling yourself?
It is very important to reinvent yourself like who thought that ecommerce would be so big. I mean the younger generation wants everything to happen with a press of a button so you have to go with the time and I enjoy the whole process of meeting my clients and everything but now I realize that I have to out there if I want to be relevant to the younger generation.
I am just upgrading my website and I think that we need to go with the flow and just upskill ourselves in whatever field we are.
Asmita Marwa
Instagram id - @asmitamarwa
Website - Asmita Design
Interviewed by - Ananie Borgia
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