Interviewer: Tell me about yourself?
Dhruv: I hail from Nagpur. You will be surprised to know that I ‘m not from a designing background. Before opening my store in 2005, I studied B.com and worked as a banker.
Interviewer: What made you choose fashion designing as a career?
Dhruv: It all happened by chance. I did a course in designing and after one year I realized it had become my passion.
Interviewer: What is the most favourite part of being a designer?
Dhruv: The Tailoring part really fascinates me. It requires a lot of hard work. It involves technicalities, accurate specifications, which I really find interesting.
Interviewer: What elements of designs are included in your collection?
Dhruv: I am a men’s designer. Since beginning my forte has been designing classic conventional suits for men, then I moved on to designing for grooms and the corporates and now I design for everybody.
Interviewer: Do you think that people should follow trends or should they have their personal style?
Dhruv: I believe here in India, men are too hesitant to follow trends. They hardly experiment with colours. You will generally find them in black, blue and grey only. They should experiment with colours. I really feel sorry for men for their taste in fashion. They should keep themselves abreast of the latest trends. One should follow trends but at the same time one shouldn’t forget Personal style, for example if we have to design for someone, we take into account complexion, physique and yes obviously the occasion for which one wants to dress up.
Interviewer: Are you under constant pressure of looking good as you are a designer yourself? What is your Personal style?
Dhruv: Though People expect this but I am the way I am. You will find me most of the time in Denims and T shirt but yes, I am fond of bright colours. So, when I have to dress up formally you will never find me dressed up in dull colours. You will find me in lime green, pink and various shades of blues.
Interviewer: What has been your professional success so far?
Dhruv: My business has grown manifold. I started my 70sq ft store in 2004 with only 2 employees. and after 14 years I owned 1400sq ft store with 2000sq ft workshop with approx. 35-40 employees.
Interviewer: How do you relate past and present fashion trends?
Dhruv: Trends are temporary. Men used to wear bell bottoms in 1995-1996, double vest coats. then this fashion faded and came checks, brighter colours. The trend again changed to narrow fitted trousers, stripes then came long coats, big collars Fashion is a cycle. It comes and goes. Something which you saw 20 years ago may again be in trend today.
Interviewer: What fires you up?
Dhruv: New colours new designs, new textures inspire me to create new things
Interviewer: Whom do you look up to and why?
Dhruv: I really look up to J.J. Vallaya and Sabyasachi. I find their designs wearable. I feel when you see models displaying designs on the ramp., one should be able to relate to them. I really admire these two designers for their wearable collections.
Interviewer: Who according to you is the best dressed actor in the film industry?
Dhruv: I admire Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor for their fashion sense and the way they experiment with clothes.
Interviewer: What is your advice to aspiring fashion designers?
Dhruv: First and foremost, you need to have passion for fashion, growth and interest in trends There are very few designers for men. It has a vast scope. The ratio is 100:1. If you talk about my city only, there are only 2 men’s boutiques as compared to 50 boutiques for ladies. So, it has tremendous growth opportunities.
Interviewer: Give us some tips for dressing up in Summers?
Dhruv: Wear linen fabric in summers and yes, don’t forget to play with pastel shades.
Image Source: Instagram