A garden of designs

Elegant designs

She has been in the design industry for almost 20 years, and her passion for making people look good has brought her a long way. She believes that one should celebrate life to its fullest and one way to do that is to dress  in the best way possible.

   Designer Archana Kochhar never thought she would take up designing as a career. In fact, she wanted to have her own cosmetic company.

 She wanted to do something that would add value to one’s life. She recalls her days back in college when she had put up a show that was well appreciated. She believes that this experience probably sowed the seeds for her wanting to do something in this field.

“After I got married, I wanted to do something and thought of giving a try in the designing field. After which there was no looking back,” says Archana. Her first collection  itself was a total ‘sold out’ and the money that she earned from it was used to bring together her second collection. 

This was how she grew, slowly and steadily, and made a mark in the industry. “When I started designing, I was about 20 years old and was enamoured by Indian marriages which are bright and glittery. Wedding day is an important part of one’s life, and every girl wants to look her best. I wanted to be a part of this happy occasion by making a bride look one notch prettier and one notch more elegant,” says Archana.

Though she started by designing for women, people’s appreciation and the girls’ demand to see their fiance also  in a matching creation (so that the picture looks complete), led her to work with menswear too. “I started working only on bridal wears, but at present, I create designs for almost every category,” she says.  Versatile is what one can call her style of work. Splash of bright colours, classy silhouettes, inspiration from different cultures and traditions are the highlights of her collection.

“Very often, I question myself if I should have a signature style or remain versatile. I love working with colours and I am highly inspired by everything Victorian, which could be seen in my latest collection. I drew inspiration from the Victorian Palaces, artifacts, gardens and more,” she says.

She mostly works with fabrics like georgette, velvet and all kinds of silks to name a few.
“I have used the whole spectrum of fabrics and in fact, I am in the process of making a woven collection which is something I have never done before. I am really excited about it,” says Archana.

Her latest collection — ‘Garden of Eve’ — is intricately a digital print collection that depicts angelic portraits and floral motifs with black and white stripes which is the highlight of the collection. The silhouettes of this collection range from Indian fusion to contemporary bridal wear like ‘lehengas’ with crop tops, keyhole anarkalis, structured saris, pencil skirts with flared tops and floor length ‘anarkalis’.

“I have focussed on tones of mint green, rusty pink, red, black and white for this line.Being a travel buff, most of my collection can see the inspiration of a new culture, a heritage and a new taste of my travel diaries,” says Archana. 

Talking about her experience in the recent edition of ‘Bangalore Fashion Week’, she says, “I have been a part of many of its editions. It is getting better every year. My experience this time was as usual a fabulous one. Fashion is not just about creativity but creativity and branding. And in order to become a renowned designer, participating in events like this help one grow on a global level. Fashion shows definitely help designers become brands.”