Winning fashionably

Suket Dhir’s run up to the final round of the International Woolmark Prize was marred with setbacks. The yarn he needed wasn’t delivered on time, which caused his collection to be delayed by at least two months. His wife, Svetlana couldn’t make it to the event because of visa hassles.

“I wasn’t expecting to win at all — everything that had to go wrong went wrong. I told myself that since the worst is over, I have nothing to fear. Actually I am glad it happened so that everything could go smoothly,” said Suket, who has joined the company of Karl Lagerfeld and Yves Saint Laurent after winning the prize this year.

The collection was made with eco-friendly wool with the help of hand- tied and dyed yarn (ikat) and kasui, a traditional hand embroidery, a take on the classic quilting stitch, which created geometric, grid-like patterns. Suket used colours like sky blue, mustard and mango yellow for the collection. He says, “The collection is inspired from the playtimes I have with my son, which in turn reminds me of my childhood. There are some honest emotions that I have brought to life with my designs. I have taken inspiration from everyday life.”

Suket’s team worked tirelessly for the last one year to bring these designs to life. The designer believes that his collection only touched “the tip of the iceberg”. He says, “There is a lot that can be done with just ikat. Now when I look at it, I realise that there is so much one can do... For our collection, we reinterpreted the prints to give it a universal appeal. I now believe that the moment you make it relatable, people will accept it.”

Suket’s decision to get into fashion was nothing less than an experiment. “When I was 22, one of my friends asked me what I wanted to do with my life. I had no answer to it. I was out of school for five years, and I had absolutely no answer. I panicked and almost began to cry! There are things I liked, such as photography, but it wasn’t something I wanted to pursue. I also had an inclination towards fabrics but there was no interest that was particularly close to my heart. Since I was born in a family of fabric merchants, I decided to try my hand at this anyway. This is the first time I have received any award in my life. So it means a lot to me,” Suket recounts.

When the Delhi-based designer says that his approach to designing his organic, he means it. He says, “I don’t clock in hours at my workplace every day. Sometimes I visit my friend for a little chat, and keep deadlines out of my mind. Of course, then there are times where I bring out an entire collection in a couple of hours. I guess my team does find it difficult to work at such pace, but that’s just how I function.”

Currently, the designer is busy pacing himself with the international orders that have been streaming him since his win. He says, “The win is like my window to the world. Right now, I am busy working on international projects that the win has got me. My regular collection is currently being worked on. I also had plans for a wedding collection but that will have to wait. I also want to go out and travel but work remains priority.”