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Bina Ramani’s
designs, unconventional and glamorous created from ancient brocades,
tissues and silks, have appealed to both the Indian and the foreign
woman. Rich in colour and texture her clothes are regal in look and
comfortable to wear.
Once
upon a time there lived a little girl in London who dreamed of
becoming a designer. An Indian by birth, she wanted to come back to
India and start a boutique. Fond of drafting, cutting and stitching
her own garments, she started dressing with an aim to look different.
She experienced with material and ruined several garments – but
some of her outfits won her many compliments. In fact many of her
creations were a result of trial and error. She belonged to an
orthodox sikh family intent on making an ideal housewife of her –
teaching her to cook and clean. But she nourished her own personal
dream so close to her heart. The young girl was called Bina Lalvani.
The
transition from the protected girl to an independent career woman;
from an amateur designer to a dedicated couturier; the change from
Bina Lalvani to Bina Ramani has been a roller coaster ride for Bina
teaching her something constructive at every step and enriching her
in experience and emotions.
Bina
always had a love for old things. Objects d’arts, laces, rich
brocades and traditional beads. She was totally captivated by the
mystery behind the old fabrics. The era, the period they represented
excited her immensely. She craved to give these period fabrics a new
life. She began drafting international and modern designs on these
traditional fabrics given them a blend of the ancient and modern
cuts.
Her
first collection reached the display window of Bloomingdales. She
saw herself taking a step towards the realization of her childhood
dreams. But she knew that she had to grow, develop and establish
herself in India. She had a burning desire to share all she had
learnt in London and New York (where she went after her marriage)
with the people in India. She loved ancient fabrics and India was a
treasure house. So the inevitable happened. She landed in Delhi
with a suitcase full of creative ideas and her heart full of
enthusiasm to establish herself as a designer in the country she
loved most.
Once
in Inda, Bina combed the entire country in search of old fabrics.
She always wanted her garments to have a theme so she began her
designing with the rich and colourful brocades form Benaras. She
then discovered the old patola patterns in Gujarat and ikats in
bright colours form Orissa and Hyderabad.
Credited
with an astounding capacity to work hard, Bina personally went to
shops big and small in the cities ransacking every pole of old sarees
in search of something exclusive. She went by the theme, texture,
pattern and the colour of the saree. She personally fancied the
‘jewel colours’ like emerald, magenta and purple. In
Benaras and Gujarat she approached families in search of the rich
traditional handloom. Word spread about ‘the tall woman from
Delhi’ who comes looking for fabrics and Bina started her
collections.
She
started designing jackets, long skirts, trousers in shape of the
salwar in sixteen patterns, peasant tops and sophisticated long robes
out of brocade, silk and tissue material. Since her entire concept
about designing and her feel for her base fabric was so novel, her
house was flooded with friends and clients. There came a serious
need for a separate outlet from where she could market these dresses.
The result was ‘Once Upon a Time’ a shop which soon gained
the reputation of stocking some of the richest and most exotic
designs. The clothes appealed to both the Indians and foreigners
touring Delhi. It soon became a matter of prestige to own a dress
from a Bina Ramani collection. The shop had a distinct identity
because of its unusual location, it was neither in a shopping area
nor located in a posh locality of Delhi. In fact Bina has always
believed in doing things in her own style and her creative spirit has
always come up with unique ideas. So she chose the most
unconventional site for her very first outlet. It was a part of the
old ruins near the world famous ‘Qutub Minar’ in Mehrauli,
Delhi. In fact the section of ruins which she chose to construct the
haute couture shop was a part of the ‘Aish Khana’ (Pleasure
House) of the kings which had now been converted into a home for
destitute women. She employed women with practically no professional
background and trained them into a supportive and expert team.
Bina
has always considered her height as her source of inspiration Many of
her new creations were draped on her own frame in the experimental
stages to judge their fall. She has always had a personal liking for
loose and flowing garments rather than figure hugging ones. In fact
she is a firm believer in the theory that a good designer is like an
artist who can create clothes that hide the faults and enhance the
good features of a body. Moreover she has always desired to create
garments which are a blend of regal looks and comfort. Soon she
realized that the saree though an appropriate dress for the figure of
an Indian woman limited the movements of the wearer. She again
wanted to be unconventional and change the normal way of draping a
saree. So the restriction of six yards was broken and the saree gave
rise to more comfortable garments with more scope for free movement.
Bina has always worked towards creating a surprise element in her
garments – in the pattern of the embroidery or the buttons or
the non-matching dupatta which still looked good with the ensemble.
Bina
Ramani the designer had arrived. Her dream had come true but the
horizons kept widening. Her true business sense complemented by her
creative mind showed her the direction for further development. She
sensed the need for an outlet for her garments abroad. She had
already witnessed the popularity of her designs with foreigners. So
what could be better than an extension of ‘Once Upon a Time’
in New York? She has always had the visuals of her outlets clear in
her mind. She didn’t want a money-churning outlet but an
establishment that also spoke of the rich culture and tradition of
her country. Hence ‘Once Upon a Time’ in New York wore the
’Raja Look.’ The whole boutique has been tastefully styled
with an Indian touch, a min-India in New York.
With
the growing outlets Bina wanted space for her workshop of garment
production. It was in search of this space that she came across her
biggest discovery the Hauz Khas Village. This is the largest and
brightest feather in Bina’s cap. Hauz Khas Village was small
sleepy village in the heart of Delhi near a 13th century
monument overlooking a reservoir. Bina found her real roots in this
village. She became a part of the village and the families soon
started coming to her with their problems. Totally bewitched by the
beauty of the place and the warmth of the people Bina toyed with yet
another idea.
What
if this village with its typical Indian ambience was converted into
one of Delhi’s designer centres. She started communicating with
all the other designers in Delhi to get together and open the outlets
in this original untouched area. So successful was her project that
today every designer who was a name in Delhi wants to be a part of
the Hauz Khas Village. The place has developed into an excellent
shopping centre where one can buy anything from designer clothes to
furniture to plants. It soon emerged as a centre for the
fashion-conscious Delhiites. It also became a place to visit on the
itineraries of visitors to the city.
But
for Bina there is always more to do. Her latest development is the
enchanting ‘Room With a View’ a gallery in the Hauz Khas
Village where she has displayed not only her own creations but also
the men’s wear designed by Dilshad Khan and Nandita Suri. She
used the mughal theme created by Neelam Soni from Nagpur, jewellery,
by Meera Nair and summer collection by Karuna Khaitan.
To
promote young talent and new designers Bina has thrown open the doors
of her ‘Room With a View’ for them. She has decided to
choose two or three students from the National Institute of Fashion
Technology every year and invite them to have their first exhibition
in her gallery. This way they can benefit from an already flowing
traffic of the right clientele and therefore get a fabulous exposure.
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