Patched in style

Mohammed Javed Khan, a budding designer, adores natural fabrics. Not a fan of ‘make-believe’ designs, he creates simple yet classic men’s wear that use handpicked, quality fabrics. His debut collection, ‘Mr Bowerbird’, has been inspired by nature and has an affinity towards simplicity, quality and artistic touch-ups.

With natural fabrics being the highlight, the designs boast of fits that are modern and patterns that are subtle. He calls his designs ‘travel friendly’ and explains, “My collection promotes travelling and exploring. The T-shirts are designed to keep maps, passports, documents, sunglasses, to name a few, easily and there are secret pockets too. Tweed blazers have compartments for boarding passes, mobile and have loop track for ear plugs to keep them untangled. The denims and chinos are comfortable during travels because of the use of stretch fabrics.”

The upcycled products are the collection’s highlight and it uses ‘boro’ technique — a Japanese technique for mending clothes  — which has a lot of indigo patchwork, manual handwork and upcycled materials. “Making use of this technique, I want to let my clients know how repairing makes a garment unique,” he says. An award-winning student of fashion designing, he worked for seven years as a design manager for a fashion brand and now will be displaying his collection in ‘Myntra’.

He looks up to the ace Belgian fashion designer Dries van Noten and opines, “I am constantly aware of the evolving trends in the field but I do not really follow them. When you are into ‘fast fashion’, it might be important to follow trends but I am a lover of ‘slow fashion’ and following trends is not my cup of tea.”

He disagrees that designing is a part of a glamorous industry and comments that the industry needs continuous back-breaking effort like any other corporate job. “It is a misconception that fashion designing is a glamorous job. Yes, the designs do become glamorous, but there are problems that arise and one needs to solve them on daily basis to sustain in this field. It is the passion that keeps you going and I find immense satisfaction when designing something and keeping my aesthetic fundamentals in place.”

He wishes to promote his brand worldwide and says, “I definitely see ‘Mr Bowerbird’ expanding globally.” Calling Bengaluru a “blessing for budding creative heads”, he opines, “The City is a great place to get one’s dream job, just as I have found mine. It is a smart city with self-made people who encourage unconventional initiatives. It has given me the opportunity to feel like the owner of a sustainable business plan than just being called a designer.”