A royal framework

After completing a course in product design from the National Institute of Design, this talented designer from Kolkata pursued her passion through fashion aesthetics.

To gain further knowledge, she completed her higher education in the same field from London College of Fashion. Sanchita Julka’s association with the fashion industry is 15- years-long; however, her label ‘Fikshion’ by Sanchita Julka is just six-years-old.

“I believe simplicity is the ultimate sophistication and I have learnt this through my years of experience and by manipulating aesthetics and style in various forms and patterns. I have matured through my journey in this industry and my philosophy reflects clearly in my collections,” says Sanchita. According to her, fashion should be understated and given enough space for personal style to make a statement. Her outfits reflect the rich art and heritage of India with a dash of Western influence imbibed in them.

She explains, “I derive my storylines just like writing a book, inspired by a particular art, handicrafts, the abstract emotions of society or anything that kindles my creative soul.”

She points out that coming from a Bengali family, her obvious career option was to get into the corporate world. But as destiny already had it decided, she was driven towards what suits her best. And that’s how she went for the unconventional choice and stepped into the fashion world. “I remember this one time when I had designed an outfit for myself and it was noticed by a retailer who insisted that I start designing for him professionally. That’s how my first individual setup started and the wheels got rolling. Thanks to my family who supported me throughout,” says Sanchita.

And she says that if not a designer, she would definitely have been a writer. She already has a poetry blog and hopes to take it forward seriously in future. Talking about her recent collection, she details that it was inspired from the banks of Indus — a ‘pret’ line based on ‘ajrak’ from Sindh. “It’s an age-old block printing done mainly on indigo and vegetable dye.

The line is again a diffusion with the Indian ethos and Western sensibilities. The colour palette is mostly earthy and indigo,” she explains. As for her future endeavours, Sanchita is looking forward to two different storylines. While ‘Kashida’, one of the collections, is inspired by the fine needleworks of Kashmir, ‘Shahi’, the other one, is inspired by the royal heritage of India.