‘Fashion is an addiction’

Dressed in black satin shorts, white top and a grey-ish cape, Kiran  Uttam Ghosh looks straight out of college and feels like that too.

She says, “I have studied in Mumbai. I have fun memories of eating at Swati snacks, partying at 1900’s and hitch-hiking outside Sophia college. I have always loved the city, the only thing that has stopped me from making Mumbai my home is that my family is back in Kolkata.”

 In Mumbai for her ‘Retrospective Experiential’ held at the Aza exhibition, the designer who has completed 15 years in the fashion industry. She says, “I want to take the consumer through each and every stage of dressing up. Thus, it is like a journey through my label. For me, fashion is about being fun and quirky. I think it is also an addiction.”

Explaining the difference about fashion then and now in India, she says, “Till some time ago, my best individual design finds for my wardrobe were from anonymous boutiques in the back-lanes of London usually run by British students. These days, I find I come back empty handed from London and shop back home. There isn’t a better place for edgy individual fashion pieces than young Indian designers today.”

Kiran is glad that fashion is changing face over the years. She points out, “At the store the other day, I walked in at 10am and I was surprised to see people walk in and shop on a regular working day. This certainly means fashion has gained prime importance in people’s life. I think the very concept of fashion has changed in India from it being high-fashion and only for the elite.”

Talking about fashion weeks, Kiran says, “I don’t know how designers make it through so many fashion weeks. But according to me, abundance makes for reluctance.” However, Alka Nishar has a different opinion. She says, “In Europe we have so many of them. It is inevitable as the market has opened up.”