Personal is Pivotal

But Dubal clearly doesn’t like success to taste like instant coffee. “Bigger does not necessarily mean better. Working into every market is not my cup of tea,” he reasons. “Easy availability can also backfire as we have a large and looming grey market. The quality of design waters down with mass production. The buyer slowly becomes a person you will never know,” he adds.

The personal is pivotal for Dubal. Each of his collections dig deep into his own — and by extension — India’s cultural psyche. His clothes evoke his part-Maharashtrian part-Sikkimese roots. “The cultural signifance of my mixed background has helped me understand differences but also cohesiveness,” he adds. Sanskar, his label, recreates “Indo-Asian shapes” with traditional textiles and weaves on a play of prints and embroideries. The result is a visual feast of Eastern traditions with modern aesthetics.

Much of fashion today bears a very strong commercial slant, especially with the new trend of sportswear and normcore ordinariness. Where does he fit in? “I’ve never looked at my work only for the domestic market but felt that my ideas would also have international significance in terms of concept and voice. The discerning buyer is looking for clothes that are beyond trends. As a result, my wraps, jackets and kaftans travel beyond my world and have brought many interesting and individual women to me,” adds Dubal. One of these is an anthropologist, Gail Percy, who represents him in the USA. An online store is in the making too.

Dubal’s new collection will be showcased at the upcoming edition of the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week in Delhi. It speaks of the fifth dimension, of delving into the past. “It is a deep concept with a design scape of modern folk, contemporary craft and in shapes that blend structure and fluidity,” he says, adding that the collection promises to be a cultural canvas, a piece of art.