It was in 2007, that I first came across an Anuradha Ramam Saree. Sheer bliss. I was awestruck with the unusual weave and a beautifully color combined huge border that made the saree look so amazing. And then I met her in 2014.
It was quite a day meeting the lady herself, the maverick who weaves magic into clothes. As you step into her studio in Shahpur Jat, you realize that there is nothing in the entire store which is not oozing with vibrant colours and pulsating with life. The studio is breathtakingly beautiful; the ‘Anuradha touch’ is everywhere. Be it her designs or her paintings or the trivia in small and big corners spread around, it is the Midas touch, only this time in rainbow colours – absolutely magical and awe inspiring.
Graphic designs in bold colors discerningly mixed and matched in almost all kinds of fabrics-hand woven cottons, georgettes, chiffons, malda silks and tussars, all in her signature style. Anuradha sure knows how to cast the color spell. Vibrant hues, happy colorful combinations of energetic graphic, tribal and ethnic designs that meet creativity in different forms, be it embroidery or appliqué, mirror work or simply a painting, Anuradha Ramam can flirt with fabric and hypnotize colors to speak a language of harmony . It is her design sense that captures your attention at first and gradually, it begins to seep in. It is the energy that exuberates from Anuradha herself that mesmerizes you. She is creativity personified.
So, who is Anuradha Ramam…
(Gives a hearty little school girl laugh) “When I think of Anuradha Ramam, I think of a naughty little girl sitting on a branch of a tree whose name is Babli , hanging upside down and her friends standing at the base of tree asking whether they can come up and I say ‘what’s the password?’ That’s the way I image myself and that’s the way I have been always- tomboyish, running, giggling, shouting, laughing, screaming. I have always done what I wanted, my way. If my mom would say do not go outside to play, I would just say ‘mamma I am going and close the door behind!’
I love happiness; I love to be just myself. I laugh a lot; I cry a lot, I touch extremes. And that’s the way I perceive myself. This picture has not changed in all these years. My creativity also has that playful element, wild unpredictable colors, something of your own and something that makes a statement in its own way; by being different! I think I do not belong to where the crowd is, what everybody else does. I like doing things my way.”
Anuradha Ramam as a fashion designer, as an artist…
“My mother is very beautiful and my memories of childhood of her doing various things around house have left a deep impression on me, the way she would keep the house, wipe the money plant leaves with a wet cloth stained with oil, those little things they come back to me now; the way she would be cleaning and maintaining a very beautiful home. Those are images that kind-of-get-trapped in your memory. My father’s never-say-die attitude, his perseverance and belief in hard work, and hard work alone did leave an indelible mark on me, in my formative years. I learnt that only the determined survives!
I am not a trained fashion designer; I had always wanted to do something beautiful and creative, all my life. Whichever art competition I used to participate in, I would win the first prize. I wanted to become an artist. But then, somehow parents are never convinced that the life of an artist is going to be a good one. There is this whole thing about struggle for existence for artists which parents do not want their children to go through, they would rather put you in college for a degree to give you self-sustenance through good education and see to it that you are sorted and fit into a formula for the beaten path.
There was a part of me which wanted to be an artist. I did my masters in English literature and B.Ed from St Xaviers college, Kolkata. Fashion designing happened after marriage. I continued my painting post marriage as well and then once I went to Hyderabad where I met a few weavers. I had some graphic designs that I would keep piling, one of the weavers was connected to the family and I showed him my designs to know if they could be put on the loom, to which he agreed. My first design was the zig-zag black, white and red dupatta that came into being. It is my first, the oldest and till date one of my best selling designs. I have made sarees, dupattas and dresses as well in the same design. It is simple yet bold and beautiful and it was the very essence of my being, my existence.
The first experiment gave me the confidence that what you can scribble, draw and put hundred percent in, can finally transform into a real design. It was like whatever I was creating as ornamental, could be made instrumental. So, the belief that whatever I was doing had a direction was very gratifying. I could bridge the gap between my thoughts and their subsequent reality. It really touched my heart. That was the beginning of my journey. It was possible to visualize and create, and to have the absolute proof in my hands. And then, I started drawing all the more.”
So, how did the business of fashion design start for you?
“In the beginning, I was operating from my studio in Munirka, New Delhi. I would invite my friends and people over to see the designs. It was quite overwhelming when the business just picked up, people would come and tell that it was an awesome feeling to wear the saree and they wanted me to create newer designs for them. They felt beautiful from inside when they wore my sarees. I felt good that my designs were making people happy.
I tell my clients, if you do not feel happy in my clothes it is not worth it. It is not like, I am wearing a saree worth few thousand rupees and I feel good because it is expensive, it can be just a 200-300 rupee saree which can be as simple as a white saree with a red border on one side and yellow that can also make someone happy. It is just about you at the end of the day. It should fill your soul, it should express your language, it should give you a reason to live and be joyous.”
Your designs exuberate energy…
“It is my passion that comes out in my designs. My passion to live each day to its full, to express in a language that makes a difference; my creativity is simple. It is color blocking and with an innate sense of madness which has no end or a beginning; its limitless and it somehow just ties down the whole creativity together to give it a completely new dimension.”
That you are so much in love with colors…
“My mind finds it difficult to think in terms of whites and off-whites. Everyone asks me for this combination, people are not sure as to how they will wear so many colors. Somehow my mind cannot think of whites, off-whites and beiges. To design in these hues I have to concentrate a lot. It is like going into meditation mode and then thinking of designing in these colors. Recently, I did a brilliant range of different shades of white and it just flew off the shelf. So, it can be done but the basic energy lies in the way you tie down those colors. And I have that unpredictable element in every design. There is an element of undiscovered mystery which unfolds only when we unfold completely that is the best part of my design. Sometimes it surprises me too.”
Indian fashion designs sense…
“Has two groups, one lays heavy emphasis on the bling factor, and the more the merrier kind of thing. The other is vey kitsch; it has every element in it. Throwing too many elements without a sense of beauty becomes very chaotic. But then there are also designers who are doing a very balanced work, a touch of bling and a soul factor.
I like Anita Dongre’s clothes a lot, I like the way they are simple yet with a sense of fun, flowy and flirty.”
Do you think our fashion industry is more Bollywood inspired, rather than a fashion forecast we have a blockbuster movie which sets the trend ball rolling?
“Somehow I do not believe in that, I design because I want to wear it. Whatever I design, I first try on myself and if I feel that it will work, I put it in production mode. My maximum production for one design is eight pieces only, for woven sarees. All my garments are one-of- a- kind, no repeats.
“Somehow I do not believe in that, I design because I want to wear it. Whatever I design, I first try on myself and if I feel that it will work, I put it in production mode. My maximum production for one design is eight pieces only, for woven sarees. All my garments are one-of- a- kind, no repeats.
Anuradha Ramam makes fashion and that becomes a statement. When you wear a dress, you can wear it with a skirt, you can wear it with trousers or you can throw a shrug on it, or may be tie a scarf around it, the entire look put together, is your personal fashion statement. And it stops traffic!”
What kind of risk can you take for your design element?
“I love risks .Without taking risks and only playing safe will not get what we are constantly seeking. I believe in deconstructing and reconstructing from there on. Many a times, things don’t turn out as you expect. I have had to just cut them all up and remake new elements from there on and they have always turned out to be the most brilliant pieces of creativity ever seen. You need to be completely fearless and only believe that whatever turns out from the debris will be beautiful”!
You derive inspiration from?
“From art, from nature around me and from movies; I love watching movies after movies till my mind comes to a passive halt. And songs, I love old melodies and I also like today’s infusion, the madness in songs these days, I think even that requires a lot of creative energy. For me, life has to be fun. Whatever you do, you must enjoy. Whatever you create must have hundred percent of your energy, your love for it otherwise, it cannot be beautiful- it cannot give you a sense of purpose or completion.”
Are you satisfied with the way things are moving?
“Yes, very much, that sense of achievement is endless. Whatever you have achieved till now is of no value, because the moment is gone, it is already achieved; it is the struggle to constantly challenge yourself to refresh, to innovate, to recharge and to beat yourself to it!
I am very happy with my label; it has taken its own time to evolve. It’s a slow and steady progress. I have clients, who have been with me from day one. If you have people wearing your clothes for years and asking you, what’s new, it gives a sense of satisfaction and great achievement, to be able to take the people you started with, along as you keep growing. Growth in isolation has no meaning for me.”
Do you have a muse or someone you want to see in your sarees?
“Myself! It is a faceless identity; probably the face of Durga riding a bullet. I love Smita Patil. In fact for my shoot also I am looking faces which is very earthy, very Indian, and beautiful yet rustic. My brand is just a reflection of who I am.”
In one line:
Fashion: Putting stuff together to make it work and speak volumes.
Saree: A piece of fabric you wrap around yourself to just evolve into your own identity. Everyone wraps it in a unique way.which makes them so special
How to wear an Anuradha Ramam saree: Wear it with my ikat corsets that I have introduced lately along with boots and silver jewellery and loads of kajal nahein toh nazar lag jayegi ! Bindi and flowers too!
Photographs By : Kiran Chopra, Tushar Mutreja, One World News
Video By : Tushar Mutreja, One World News
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