Ashish N. Soni is not someone from whom you’d expect much over-the-top or avant-garde; classic is more like it. He’s one of the handfuls in the Indian fashion industry who draw their fashion aesthetics from good tailoring. One such show was seen at the second day of Amazon India Fashion Week (AIFW) where the designer showcased menswear keeping a largely monochrome look - grey was seen as one of the key shades. “I belong to the school of minimalism. To me, always, less is more and trying to do something less yet impress is very difficult. I think classic is always beautiful. That’s the basis of my design philosophy,” smiled Ashish.
He was one of the earliest Indian designers to showcase internationally, at the Olympus Fashion Week in New York back in 2005. Since then he’s been showing at the Tranoi in Paris and the london Fashion Week. Talking about AIFW he said, “It’s mainly a monochromatic palette, the spot of colour coming in the form of ornate silk linings of severe-cut jackets, layers of cloths and baggy trousers.” Volume trousers with wider leg shape, and longer length that gives the appearance of gathered folds at the hem were the highlight in the collection. layered look was another trendsetter on the show. Surfaces and jacquards offer more detailing and dimensions to an otherwise minimalistic collection. Moreover, Polo player Samir Suhag walked the ramp as the showstopper for the designer.
It was market conditions that ultimately made the designer, an out-and-out menswear designer, enter women’s wear in 1991. Menswear designers were few and, thus, a majority of the market was being driven by designers who made women’s clothes.
Ashish says, “Economically, it was a challenge to only do men’s clothing, so you did it for as long as you could survive keeping your overheads really low, but as you grew, your expenses grew too and you needed to expand your customer base.” A year later, the Fashion Design Council of India (FDCI) got set up, with Ashish N. Soni as one of the founding members. “From there we went into the conception of fashion weeks. And when I set up, suddenly there were structures in our industry, in our business, so the women’s wear thrust began much faster,” he adds.
Though born in Delhi, he grew up in Africa, where he was amongst Europeans, Asians, Filipinos, Africans, Pakistanis. He recalls, “Even among the Indians, we had friends from all over India. This multi-cultural exposure I think somewhere helped me develop this eye for trying to mix things. Not just trying - it happened to you as a process, almost like how you learnt how to eat dal-chawal, but with a fork and knife, and still enjoy it. That was the setup that I was in.”
His personal favourites, like a “state of mind”, have come and gone — from Italian labels Armani, Prada, Gucci and D&G in the 80s; the Japanese like Rei Kawakubo, Issey Miyake and Yohji Yamamoto from the late 90s to 2003-04; and, since the last five to six years, Belgians like Dries Van Noten and Martin Margiela. “Another label that I like a lot presently is Marni, which is Italian,” he adds.