Is what Suneet Varma secretly aspires to bring to Judith Leiber, a US-based haute couture label founded in 1963. The first Indian designer to sign a three-year contract with the luxury brand to design handbags, he tells Shweta Shiware how in his 22 year long career, he didn't let controversies become bigger than his image, and refrained from discussing inanities like who he is dating
Is what Suneet Varma secretly aspires to bring to Judith Leiber, a US-based haute couture label founded in 1963. The first Indian designer to sign a three-year contract with the luxury brand to design handbags, he tells Shweta Shiware how in his 22 year long career, he didn't let controversies become bigger than his image, and refrained from discussing inanities like who he is dating
He's so attached to his work, he goes to bed surrounded by fabric swatches he has created. He recounts how his mother Indira wasn't too happy with his impromptu declaration the other night: "Love doesn't excite me
anymore." And yet, Suneet Varma isn't hopelessly heartbroken. There's nothing asexual about him either. Feted as much for his obsessive focus on couture as for his tirelessly-gelled spiked hairdo and signature spiffiness, Suneet's admission that he'd rather be a workaholic than an alcoholic, oddly sums up his successful 22 year-old run in an industry infamous for its insane highs and biting lows.
Beyond publicity gimmicks
"I always had a plan. I've been in this industry for more than two decades and thankfully, I've more than Page 3 pictures and Fashion Weeks to prove my worth," says Suneet whose single-minded strategy has helped him bag enviable international assignments Moet et Chandon, Swarovski, and BMW. His latest job profile makes him the first Indian designer to partner with Judith Leiber, international megabucks brand, cheekily called, "the queen of the Hollywood red carpet" to create glamorous handbags.
Fashion Weeks don't make sense
His rock-solid experience has made him come to a conclusion: Indian designers wouldn't survive without couture. And he doesn't believe in wasting time doing ready-to-wear, since there are enough high-street pret brands like Zara and Mango bridging the gap. "Where are the international buyers at Indian Fashion Weeks? If I can't reap benefits after participating in a show, it's not worth my while," he says with no hint of sarcasm.
Interestingly, the Delhi-based designer has been organising fashion shows even before the Fashion Design Council of India, (the governing body that started India's first fashion week), ever came into being.
Proud to be Indian
As a kid, Suneet remembers being in awe of the sheer complexity of Judith Leiber handbags in his mother's closet. He even had models brandishing them at his India Couture Week showing in September 2008, and in March this year, he was in the brand's New York atelier, unravelling the intricacies of the "art bags". The reason why he was chosen from among "many other talented contenders" has a lot to do with him being an Indian candidate.
"India and everything Indian is in focus right now. I don't have any qualms to confess that I am riding on the Jai Ho! wave. Indian movies, actors, writers, designers... you name it, everyone is benefiting from the sudden spotlight our country is under," he admits.
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His ornate sense of style has sliced through geographical barriers and gatecrached the wardrobes of high-profile clients based in London, Hong Kong, New York, Dubai and Paris, just the right fit for the Judith Leiber's
positioning as a luxury must-have.
Marrying traditional influences with modern urgency
The strong Indian sensibility and craftsmanship heightened by lavishly unapologetic use of Swarovski will be seen in his range of limited edition handbags slated to hit the market in Spring of 2010. "I'm still toying with options for my first collection. The architectural precision combined with the old-world opulence of palaces spanning Chateau de Versaille in France to Umaid Bhavan in Jodhpur, is something that fascinates me. I'm also in the midst of figuring out how to weave Bollywood in to a handbag."
Suneet dresses desi Eastwood
Creative sparks hit the roof when perfectionists Hrithik Roshan and Suneet Varma got together to work for Kites. This forthcoming romantic thriller directed by Anurag Basu has been a challenging experience for the designer, who spent considerable time mulling over whether Hrithik's not-so-wealthy character could afford two pairs of boots. "In Dhoom, he was a sun-kissed God, a royal prince in Jodhaa Akbar.
With Kites, Hrithik sports a rugged, ordinary look; more like the Indian Clint Eastwood," promises the costume designer. The purist toiled over six months to work on looks of Hrithik and his leading ladies Kangana Ranaut and Barbara Mori, and even went to the extent of attaching Polaroid shots of every outfit, complete with accessories, with each scene.
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