BackWritten in wool
Delhi designer Suket Dhir wins the regional round of the International Woolmark Prize
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On 22 July, when Indian designer Suket Dhir won the menswear regional round for the International Woolmark Prize (IWP), India’s evolving position in competitive global fashion got another applause-worthy push.
Held in Downtown Dubai, United Arab Emirates, as the regional round for India, Pakistan and Dubai, the honour opens up exciting opportunities for Dhir. He also won a cash prize of AED 150,000 (around ₹ 26 lakh). For the Indian fashion industry, the question now is: Will 35-year-old Dhir follow in the footsteps of Rahul Mishra, who was the IWP’s international winner for womenswear in 2014?
The Australia-based Woolmark Co. has been promoting the use of Merino wool, a natural yarn known for its fineness and softness, for well over 50 years. The prize was launched in 1953 to promote what’s termed as “Cool Wool" in the industry; the list of past winners includes legendary designers like Karl Lagerfeld and the late Yves Saint Laurent. A substantial cash prize apart, winners get mentorships from leading design names globally as well as retail opportunities from international fashion stores like Harvey Nichols, Saks Fifth Avenue and 10 Corso Como.
The award is a door-opener. Mishra, for instance, is now a regular at the Paris Fashion Week.
Dhir, who will compete with five other regional finalists for the IWP in Florence, Italy, in January, tells us why his kind of fashion matters. Edited excerpts:
You have been in the industry for five years but you stay away from the limelight and never showcase at a fashion week. What made you compete?
I received an invite from The Woolmark Company in October last year to participate and was surprised myself. In fact, I did not start working on my collection till 10 days before I left for Dubai, as I did not believe I deserved to participate. The idea of being a part of something so important did not sit well with me at first. But once my mood board was done, I became confident and spent time thinking about my presentation. Those 15 minutes you spend before the judges are as important as the outfit you show.
Tell us about the winning outfit—a palazzo paired with a jacket—of the regional round?
I was struggling for an idea and then, while I was with my two-year-old son Zorawar, I had a flashback. I grew up in Banga near Jalandhar, where the mango orchids were beautiful. My grandfather was one of the most elegant men I knew and in winter he would wear these loose palazzo trousers with a jacket. That is where the silhouette came from. The Kasuti embroidery details on the jacket are inspired from the mango fruit.
The indigo Ikat jacket seemed to have caught the eye of the judges. Shades of blue have been recurring themes in your collections; what is it about this colour?
The colour came from the shades of sky in Banga at night which was so clear. A lot of what I design is inspired by what I wear and blue has been a lucky colour for me.
With Mishra winning the IWP in early 2014, is there now a lot of pressure on you?
Well it gives me confidence to know we have a previous winner like Rahul Mishra. But I am going to spend time preparing for the competition. Since 2014, I feel things have changed for me. In that year, every customer I had, even someone who just bought a shirt from me, came back. There is nothing as important for a label as a repeat customer. Because of the natural fabrics, dyes and my label’s “less is more" philosophy, my clothes tend to age well, and this is finally being appreciated.
There has been no men’s fashion week in India for over three years; only a few multi-brand fashion stores really look at menswear. Does that make it hard for menswear designers to establish themselves?
It can be a struggle, but men tend to be loyal clients and ready to stick to a designer they trust. We need to find the right men to wear our labels. For me it was four years ago, when the then ambassador of Mexico in India, Jamie Nualart, began wearing my designs. He became my personal brand “ambassador"!
How do you intend to spend your handsome cash prize?
First and most importantly, I will use the money to develop my capsule collection of six garments for the IWP finals. Then I want to hire a good assistant and make improvements at my office and my home. And, of course, treat my wife Svetlana, who is my backbone.
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