Dream Debut

Manoj Kumar,23,too,was unhappy with the job scenario when he took up the same three-year fashion design course. “The recession had just taken away my job in the Merchant Navy and I had finally realised the need for a new career goal. This course seemed like a good option,” he says matter-of-factly.

Today,both Kumar and Bhardwaj are in their last year at INIFD Chandigarh. But what sets them apart from their batchmates is the fact that their label ‘Antariksh’ is one of the seven shortlisted participants at the Gen Next show of Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) SS ‘12 on March 2. In fact,while other labels in the category come from cities such as Mumbai,Hyderabad,Delhi and Kolkata,this duo,though now based in Chandigarh,trace their roots to humble towns in Himachal Pradesh (HP) and Haryana.

Kumar,whose hometown is Jhajjar in Haryana,recollects the day he received the call from IMG Reliance. “I was sitting on a scooter in the parking lot of the campus. When I got the news,I broke into a jig. Everybody around me was wondering what had happened,” he says.

For Bhardwaj,who originally hails from the town of Akri in Himachal Pradesh,the feeling took time to sink in and he was speechless when he first learnt that they had been selected from around 300 applications across India. “This is a huge break for us. Until now,we had only read about designers such as Rohit Bal and Narendra Kumar Ahmed. To be able to show our work on the same platform as them is a big recognition in itself,” he enthuses.

The two will be showing a range of casual wear. “Our line will have dresses,trousers and shirts,so it will be extremely wearable. However,we wanted to go beyond the usual fabrics such as silk,crepe and organza and we are working mainly with jute,mulmul and cheesecloth,” explains Bhardwaj. Kumar adds that their key inspiration is the banyan tree,particularly the fact that its roots grow into trunks. “One of our jute jackets has been made to resemble the roots of the tree. This apart,we also have wooden carvings doubling up as buttons. In fact,the Gen Next jury was very impressed by these carvings,” he elaborates.

Designer and stylist Aki Narula,who is mentoring all the Gen Next designers points out that both Kumar and Bhardwaj hold a lot of promise. “I think they both are talented. Moreover,their enthusiasm reminded of my early days in the profession; this was a good 11 years ago when I working out of Kolkata. But I have advised them to keep thinking out of the box and stay true to themselves. This is a big bad world that only appreciates originality,” he emphasises.