Fabric design

Overall design:
Elegance is not the prerogative of those who have just escaped from adolescence, but of those who have taken possession of their future. Fabric design is my first love. It’s not my fault. Design is a constant challenge to balance comfort with luxe, the practical with the desirable. Design is what you see and the fabric is what you feel, but you feel both when you wear my clothes.

•The customer:
Age and size are only numbers. It’s the attitude you bring to fabric design that make the difference. The great thing about fashion is that it always looks forward. I am not interested in shock tactics. I just want to make beautiful cotton sarongs and men’s shirts. Clothes mean nothing until someone lives in them.

•Design process:
It sometimes takes me weeks to design a print that I feel will sell to the customer and make them feel special when they wear it. Fashion is to please your eye. Shapes and proportions are for your intellect. Being one step ahead of a fashion trend is not so important to me. What matters is to always forge ahead.

•Nostalgia:
Every day I’m thinking about change. Nostalgia is a very complicated subject for me. I’m attracted by nostalgia but I refuse it intellectually. The market is like a language, and you have to be able to understand what they’re saying.

•Comfort:
I believe in comfort. If you don’t feel comfortable in your clothes, it’s hard to think of anything else. Over the years I have learned that what is important in a sarong is the woman who is wearing it. Over the years I have learned that what is important in a shirt is the man who is wearing it who is wearing it.

•Colour and fabric:
You can hide so much behind theatrics, and I don’t need to do that any more. We look our best in subdued colours, sophisticated cuts, and a general air of sleek understatement.
I use 100% Indian cotton for my sarongs and men’s shirts because it is the most comfortable to wear and is produced ethically.