Journalism of Courage
Participating in a Paris Fashion Week showroom has given a new tenor to designer Nivedita Saboo
Her studio at Fergusson College Road is full of all things new colours,fabrics,cuts,styles and silhouettes. Her factory at Pashan is buzzing with work orders have to be met,and quality has to be maintained. Designer Nivedita Saboo had a stall at the Paris Fashion Week pret a porter exhibitions two months back and the influence is visible. The global response and exposure that she brought back with her has kept her on her toes ever since. Were bursting at the seams with work, she says with a smile.
For the showroom at the Paris Fashion Week,there was a shortlisting for upcoming designers. I showed them my work,latest collection,my qualifications and so on. Two months prior to the fashion week,I got a selection confirmation. I worked on four new collections and fortunately they appealed to the Middle Eastern and South African buyers of the showroom, she says. Two of the collections were very European in sensibility. One was layered French Chiffon with Indian hand-block prints on each layer. The other had European colours of pale yellow and pearl white and I did cutwork in silk organza,crepe and French chiffon, she describes. Her other collections were a red-black digital print clubwear one and an Indo-western collection in greys,blues and burgundys. The latter was more about kaftans and anarkalis, she says.
Saboo had to bear all the administrative costs stay,travel,shipping and so on,but it was worth it,she says. It has given me a global perspective about the business of fashion, she feels. Saboo currently retails in Re,Mumbai,and her first consignment will reach ‘Mumbai Se’ in Dubai in January. In India,I want a presence in at least 4-6 cities before I participate in the Indian fashion weeks. For me,a fashion week is more about business than glamour or publicity, she says.
