Exploring fashion with 'Hope'

Fashion designer Sunaina Khera, who launched her collection in Hyderabad recently, talks about her new collection 'Hope', how the idea came to her mind at the time of Coronavirus and how she wrote a few keywords that brought her peace

Delhi-based fashion designer Sunaina Khera already carved a niche for herself in the Indian fashion scene after her debut at the GenNext show of Lakmé Fashion Week last year. She launched her 'A Long Way Home' and 'Dear Mom' collections in Hyderabad recently. She says, "There was never a moment in my entire life when I didn't want to pursue fashion as my career. Sure, when I was young, I was so taken up by the glamour of it all. But as I grew and enrolled in NIFT, I became aware of the amount of courage and hard work it really entails, but that did not change my thoughts about what my future in fashion would look like. Lately, I have seen and treasured my label as a companion. I want to see it grow and have a firsthand experience of the impact it creates."

On her debut last year, she says, "My experience at GenNext proved to be turning point in my career. It's a great platform to reach a wider audience. My mentor Sabina Chopra taught me things that otherwise would have taken me much longer to learn. And for that, I'm eternally grateful."

On her recently launched collection 'Dear Mom', she says, "Dear Mom was a tribute to my mother. I wanted to show her how special she is so every piece from the collection had her essence."

Sunaina's trademark designs are based on traditional Indian wear and western occasion wear. Her design process has never been upfront or direct. Sunaina says, "I have always been inspired by what I feel inside, rather than what visualize outside. For a very long time I tried to get inspired by things like nature, culture, etc, but over time I realised that it doesn't come naturally to me. Someone very important once told me, there shouldn't be a formula in design. And so, I stopped doing that."

"Instead, I maintain a design journal, where I pen down my thoughts. I could tell you how I was feeling when I made a collection or what was going on in my life during one of my previous collections. That comes very organically to me. Of course, all the collections are deeply ingrained with my sensibilities and aesthetics. I design from experiences that somehow translate into clothes. That is my process. My collections are my stories and parts of it will only ever be known to me," adds Sunaina.

On contributing to the fashion industry, she says, "As I try and explore traditional Indian silhouettes of lehengas or other wedding outfits, I realise that there is a huge gap between these two types of attires. That is where I belong. I am neither traditional, nor modern, or a bit of both depending on how you care to see. What does that make me? I am not asking to fit in a category or be defined by a term. I am a free Indian girl who has modern influences. I want to stick to tradition but I also want to break free from it at the same time."

With Coronavirus taking the world by a storm, she says, "My company like others had to be shut down production. It was a hard call but a necessary one. It is heartbreaking to be away from what I love doing most, but it was for the greater good of the community and the world. At home, I have been trying to take it one day at a time. These aren't my most productive days and that's okay. I think we are all beginning to realise that this isn't a productivity contest. It is okay to take it easy, to sit back and reflect."

"I began working on my new collection 'Hope'. The idea came about as I was writing down a few keywords that brought me peace. As I posted it on Instagram I thought of including our followers as well, to make it an interactive process. Soon, a lot of people began sending in their words and we all collectively created a mood board for the new collection. It consisted of some meaningful words for all. From turmoil, rises creativity," shares Sunaina.