Young & Restless

“I always dreamt of arriving with my own label,” says Batra. His phone hasn’t stopped ringing ever since March 5,when his alma mater Northern India Institute of Fashion Technology (NIIFT) in Mohali got to know about his debut. Batra,who hails from Rajasthan,is from the 2004-2006 batch of Knitwear Design Technology. “All that I know of fashion,its techniques and philosophy is what I learnt at NIIFT,Mohali,” he says. His teachers haven’t forgotten him either. “Batra was very hard working and I am glad it all paid off well for him,” says NIIFT Mohali’s director Vijay Sharma. Designer duo Hemant Lalwani and Nandita Rajpurani,incidentally,are two other successful designers who trained at the institute.

Batra was initially hired by RMX Joss,a garment manufacturing company. A year ago,he came out with his own label

V for Vipin Batra. He took his new line to the Bangalore Fashion Week held in February this year. For LFW,Batra rolled out his Swirls of Life. “I like to experiment with different yarns by creating new textures. For Swirls of Life,I was inspired by the planets and the cosmos,” he says,whose line-up included snug-fitting gowns made of graphic-jacquard knitwear technique. With just Swarovskis for embellishment,Batra played up the line with lots of colour. The response,so far,has been good. “I have got invitations for Hong Kong Fashion Week as well London Fashion Week. I am thrilled,” he sums up.