The life of a fashion designer

She was never too sure if she would become a fashion designer when she grew up, but traits of her girlish days already showed great inclination towards this line of profession. Keds Krome was a model before she turned a full time designer, and got acquainted with the world of fashion early in life as a student even as she remembers being actively involved in modeling throughout her high school days.

That, she was listed amongst the top 3 out of 28 models from North East Model Hunt 2001 to undergo further grooming of 2 months’ duration at Mumbai is indicative of both her experience and quality in this area. However, she dropped the opportunity because, in her words, “further, I wanted to pursue designing.” This decision pretty much sums up how she got into the prestigious National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) at Bangalore, where she pursued a 3-year professional course.

She further worked at a ‘Studio cum Workshop’ at Bangalore, which is also significant because the period marks the official launching show of her exclusive designs under the brand name, Keds Krome. Recalling that period of working experience in the city, she says, “It was nice and interesting! You get to experiment. Your designs can bold…I was designing anything from saris to beach wears. There are no restrictions with the cut; I used to design club wears- something young, bold and energetic.”

She has also worked with some of the best in the industry such as the like of Rachel Maria (model), Pooja Pradhan (model), Prasad Bidappa (fashion designer), and Pablo Bartholomew (photographer) in due course of time.

However, she left behind the fast-paced city life and came home to a more laidback Nagaland during 2005. Regardless, hers has been a household name when it comes to fashion, as her designs were already known much ahead of the time she professionally started designing.

Over 10 years of experience into the field, fueled with passion and energy has earned her several clients, many of those who keep coming back for more. She designs anything ranging from wedding gowns and accessories to blazers and suits, as well as gowns for beauty pageants, and also catering to those people attending such occasions. However, her specialty, she confesses is corsets.

She has the fondest memories of designing the entire outfit for models (from head to toe excepting shoes) for the World Bamboo Day Fashion Show during 2010. Talking about this special event, she recalls investing 3 months for the show, designing everything based on the bamboo theme that evolves neckpieces, earrings, 100% bamboo fabric for both men and women wears. Then, there was also the time she designed a cocktail dress for a Delhi based model who contested in the Femina Miss India for the preliminary round, and numerous other fashion shows both in the state and outside.

While her designs really depend on the clients’ structure and their choice of design, it takes a creative mind to bring out a fine, end result. When asked what inspires her, she says, “our culture is there but my main inspiration comes from nature.” She agrees that Naga people are very fashionable, and are more fashionable than people in the cities, which is also one of the reasons why, she finds it a challenge to design for our own people because they are well updated with the latest in the fashion world.

Sharing a bit more of her observation in this regard, she expresses, “I can see so many talent youths who are naturally gifted…also, many of them are interested in designing but they do not want to struggle” even as she emphasizes that one has to work really hard. She is particularly disappointed when she needs to hire a proper tailor, as she goes on to explain that “we have many school dropouts who are trained in cutting and tailoring but when I hire them, I have to instruct every bit of it and it’s like they were trained out of compulsion and not out of interest.”Speaking even in terms of other areas that designing is associated with, she wistfully expresses, “I wish there were more skilled people to hire.”

And yet, by now, she has designed countless dresses and accessories, not to list the orders that continuously keep pouring in. The only thing keeping her from opening her dream boutique is her fear to keep up with the orders due to shortage of skilled manpower that is hard to come by. However a boutique of her own is definitely on the pipeline.

As an end note, if there has been a driving force in her life, it is unmistakably her late mother whom she lost just a few months back. “Mom was really good with handwork and embroidery…what I do now is embroidery of a different kind but watching her do things has influenced me a lot and I also learnt to use the machine from her”, she fondly puts across.

She is also an ardent promoter of animal cause who affectionately says, “if there was a way, I’d like to start working for the cause.” One can only imagine her affection for animals, and cat, being her favourite, she has 9 cats to keep her hands full when she is not designing.