April 13, 1997 THE WEEK A cut above the rest
A hot-shot designer is targetting youngsters who can't afford too much
Though Ashish Soni is only 26 he is one of the most successful men on the fashion scene. Everyone, from matinee heart-throb Shah Rukh Khan and Manisha Koirala to Harshad Mehta and the teenyboppers in the cities, wants him to design their clothes. Soni's strength lies in his classic cuts, neat lines and special knitted fabrics that hug the body.
"I want my clothes to enhance and not dominate the personality of my clients," says Soni whose winter collection recently shown in New Delhi became a major fashion event. The fashion-conscious are still talking about it. The show was sponsored by none other than BMW which used the occasion to launch their snazzy new car in the Indian market. "Soni's clothes are trendy and classic, like our cars," notes Anita Kashyap, director of BMW.
Soni has succceeded in being trendy and classic at the same time, a very difficult blend to achieve in designing. "I first see the needs of the people and then put my creativity to use," he said.
Soni has been a trendsetter right from his childhood when he insisted on wearing clothes that were in vogue. His parents, who were based in the Middle East then, "sensed my interest and advised me to take up fashion technology. I admire my father for his farsightedness."
The National Institute of Fashion Technology, the country's premier fashion institue in Delhi, had just opened then and there was a rush to gain admission-7,500 applications for 30 seats. Soni managed to get a seat thanks to his impressive portfolio. For the next two years he learned the nitty-gritty of designing clothes. "Being creative is of no use until you are technically sound," said the designer.
Soni apprenticed himself with designer Rohit Bal and started working closely with his tailors. "I learnt that one needed a differentvocabulary to handle these people, which I wouldn't have imbibed in an institute that had foreign professors teaching us."
After passing out of NIFT, Soni teamed up with a tailor who was barely trained. And yet he had his first show ready within a few months. "I cut all the jackets, fixed all the buttons myself," he said. The clothes were a sellout and since then this young designer hasn't looked back.
He does not like to repeat his shows in a city because he wants his clothes to get the maximum exposure possible. In the winter of 1993 he tried his hand at women's wear (Soni confesses that men's clothes are his forte) and held what he calls the first solo show by a fashion designer.
Although designers like Rohit Bal and J.J. Vallya had been around for at least five years they have had only private, group or corporate shows. It was Soni who introduced the concept of a solo fashion show for his clientele. And it became such a success that there were five shows that year by other designers.
Because he is highly creative, Soni's shows are also individualistic. He used themes for his clothes and his last collection, for instance, dealt with various forms of music. The opera section had rich flowing gowns in satins and silks in tune with this dramatic music. His recent winter collection used the theme of movies as a starting point for his clothes.
The opening 'Gangster's sequence' had celluloid clippings of Godfather and his models sported lean, narrow trousers, long overcoats, zip-up jackets, see-through shirts and suits worn casually with T-shirts.
While shots of Shabana Azmi, Smita Patil and Dimple Kapadia flashed across the screen in the background, Soni's women collection used 20 metres of georgette, crushed velvet, Chinese brocade and French chiffon to create lehenga-like skirts worn with heavily embroidered blouses. The evening gowns were a brilliant blending of east and west with their slinky cuts, elegant lines and flowing dupattas.
Whether it is the hipster pants, the lapelled jacket or the panelled skirt, the striking features of soni's clothes are the cut, line and fabric. The materials he used were stretch chiffon, self-striped georgette, chalais lace and a crepe viscose stretch material for the men too. The models confessed that they'd never worn such 'light' suits before.
For the last two years, Soni has been using textured yarns and polyestered fabrics from abroad to maintain the exclusive cut and texture of his clothes. He claims that the wrinkle-free 'cool wool' material that he introduced in 1994 was a huge hit as it could be worn in summer and winter.
While his materials are imported, Soni uses a lot of intricate hand-work in his clothes, for which he has at least 70 craftsmen working for him in Bareilly and Rampur. Thread-work, Salara, semi-pashmina--he uses them all in his unique fabrics, supervising their creation himself.
The individual finesse shows in any Soni collection. The designer says he's only catering to the needs of the clothes-conscious Indian of today.
"By travelling and television they're exposed to the best in fashion and we must give it to them," he said. His prediction: "Although there is a strong fashion-scene in the country at the moment, it'll peak in the year 2000 and stabilise in one direction." The colours he 'sees' for the next season are sherbettones, lilac, dull grey, violet and lime.
Soni has recently started a second line of clothes, "for youngsters, who want to dress well, but cat't afford too much." It's yet another 'first' for a fashion-designer who has so far concentrated on haute-couture. At his Ikos showroom (it means 'Home fo Ecology'), Soni has a wide range of smart jackets, skirts, shorts, trousers in the range of Rs 500-1,000 for the not-so-rich.
"Maybe by this more wearable range of clothes, I'll become a household name," said the pony-tailed designer.
Soni's ambition is to ensure that his fashion statement 'is accepted' across the country. And by people other than Madhu Sapre, Sheetal Malhar, Pooja Batra and all the lovely models who he thinks "wears his clothes so well". His favourite male model is Arjun Ramphal "who has an attitude with his clothes."
While the young designer is confident about his future, he says that the climb to the top had certainly been no cakewalk. "While being young is an advantage today, It certainly went against me," said Soni. "I had to work extra hard for people to take me seriously." It was not easy for him to convince the companies to sponsor his shows. But his faith in himself kept him going even when disaster struck.
The day before his first solo show, the earthquake at Latur forced the cancellation of many flights. "My models nearly didn't arrive from Mumbai."
There have been problems, heartaches, rivalries and rifts as in any profession. But Soni is not one to be easily deterred. His advice to the numerous graduates who are passing out of fashion institutes across the country: "Have faith in yourself. Follow your instincts, that's what creativity is all about." It has done wonders to his career.
LEKHA J. SHANKAR
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