JOIN USHer first design was a plain circular skirt. She cut the fabric and hand-stitched the material. “It was a disaster,” says Madhurima Bhattacharjee, an electrical engineer by qualification, and now a designer and a solo proprietor of label — Madhurima Bhattacharjee.
“No one in my family sold even a hankey,” she says smilingly when asked about her journey into the fashion industry. A NIT graduate, she had a systematic approach to everything, including creativity. “The IT background has always helped me go step by step in whatever I do,” she says. She followed the internet, read the tutorials. Her second creation was another skirt that was more simple in its cuts. “After my first creation, I did not do anything for weeks. But later, I took my interest forward and surprisingly my second design turned out well,” she explains. Thus began her plunge into designing her own clothes. “I was a consumer of clothes like everyone else. But I was bored with the similar apparels in all the stores and took to designing my own clothes,” she says. When good feedback started pouring in, she expanded her creative interest into a business and started designing clothes for her first few clients. “My first order was from a lady in Mumbai. I designed a couple of clothes for her and my mom was in for a shock when she learnt that someone was paying for the clothes I stitched,” she says laughing.
A label that is over a year old now, she has been receiving good response at flee markets and as an online apparel store. “The first display of my designs was at ‘Sunday Soul Sante’ and it was a huge hit. Now, I even cater to online stores like Junglee.com,” she informs. Pencil skirts, midi skirts, maxis, crop tops, palazzos, pencil-cut trousers, scarfs...her designs are unique when it comes to cuts, fabrics, prints and colours. While black, white and red inspires her, the symmetric and floral prints are her escorts. When it comes to fabrics, she meticulously selects and sources them from Commercial Street, Chikpet and Kolkata.
Her designs “survive with time” as she holds a great liking for classic styles. “My clothes are not season-centric. They can be worn for any season and they are long lasting,” she says. It is the fabric type and prints that bring out innovations, which result in quirky, bold style in Madhurima’s clothing. Her apparels for women are available in standard sizes and she also customises them to her client’s requirements.