After designing for Bollywood divas, designer Shehla Khan now plans to open stores in Delhi, Paris and london. She speaks to Samiksha Raj about getting inspired by Valentino, Christian Dior, Balenciaga and learning basics from Manish Malhotra
Gone are the days when we only had Manish Malhotra, Ritu Kumar, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Rohit Bal or Neeta lulla to choose from and look up to. Today, the Indian fashion scene is picking up with more rookies foraying into the design sector and making indelible impact on the audience and fashion pundits round the globe. From designing and styling for the likes of Bollywood divas, Sonam Kapoor, Kajol, Karishma Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Jacqueline Fernandez, Dia Mirza, Priyanka Chopra to gaining high visibility on fashion websites like Pernia’s Pop Up Shop and Indian Roots, fiesty young talent Shehla Khan has already described herself officially as a brand. Shehlaa Khan has by now become the go-to fashion label for stylists and celebs from various corners. The designer who has established herself well in India’s Bollywood capital and a major fashion hub, Mumbai, now has her eyes set on the capital city. To offer the discerning Delhi crowd a cameo of her creations Shehla will be hosting a sale of clothes from July 11-13. It will be a demi-couture line — high fashion clothes but, at slightly affordable prices- that will feature an exquisite festive range of embroidered pieces, colours from pastels to bright and fabrics like net, georgette and chiffon. “The collection has been aimed for lighter occasions, especially festivals like Diwali, Karva Chauth, Raksha Bandhan. It is completely an Indian line which will comprise outfits like salwar-kameez, shararas, churidars,” says Shehla.
She describes her two-year-old label as super-feminine, classic and easy-to-wear and an extension of her own personal style. She loves incorporating a lot of intricate embroidery in her creations. As Indian textiles and crafts are always interlinked with Indian designers, Khan leaves no stone unturned in doing her bit to promote the same. “All my creations involve embroidery like chikankari, aari, shadow work, zari and gota, and that is how I am currently taking forward the traditional Indian crafts sector,” says Shehla.
She is of the view that Indian garments are either very heavy or very plain when it comes to embellishments and through her embroidered designs it is this gap that she is trying to bridge. Her garments look elaborate but are easy to wear. “My prime focus is on incorporating more of westernised look in my creations. That is my identity which makes me stand out from others. I always look up to many international style icons and designers, particularly their embroidery. Valentino, Christian Dior, Balenciaga inspire me a lot,” adds Shehla.
Khan is known to combine understated glamour with vintage style, attempting to recreate a certain magic through her garments. Beautifully cut garments, use of soft fabrics, delicate embroidery and feminine aesthetics define Shehla. She boasts of a family lineage in the industry as her father is in the business since last 30 years and has worked with biggies such as Valentino, Roberto Cavalli, Giorgio Armani and Elie Saab, while her aunt was a known name in the embroidery business and her clientele included many international designers.
A design graduate from the renowned london College of Fashion and Istituto Marangoni in Milan, Shehla also had a working stint with the fashion and design enchanter, Manish Malhotra whom she credits for maximum guidance post schooling and college. “Working with Manish has helped me more than my formal education in school and college. I would say I learnt almost everything from him. He is a serious multitasker who understands his work well and perfectly carries out everything simultaneously with panache. I was completely bowled over by his strong aesthetics for women whom he dresses beautifully and effortlessly,” says Shehla.
She enlists Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla, Anju Modi and Anamika Khanna as her favourite Indian designers. She expresses her desire to adorn international stars as well. She plans to open her store in Delhi and Hyderabad and is also targetting the fashion capitals of Paris and london in order to reach out to a wider audience. Shehla’s forthcoming project includes the Winter-Festive collection about which she prefers being tight-lipped as of now. “All I can say is that it’ll be vintage-inspired and royal with a blend of Indian and Western silhouettes,” signs off Shehla.
> CENTRE ENHANCES COAl lINKAGE FOR TAlWANDI SABO, RAJPURA TPP
Central Government has decided to enhance the coal linkage for Talwandi Sabo and Rajpura Thermal Power Plants (TPP) matching with their installed capacities of 1980 mega watt (MW) and 1400 MW respectively, which was pending with the Union Ministry of Coal since April 2011.
Union Minister for Power and Coal Piyush Goyal gave his nod for enhancing the capacity acceding to the demand of Punjab Chief Minister Parkash Singh Badal. Badal had raised this matter with the top brass of Ministry of Coal a few days back.
In another significant decision, the Union Minister has further agreed to grant two lakh tones of coal per month for Goindwal Sahib TPP, which would enable the state to fully utilize 540 MW capacity of the plant which was lying idle for want of coal.
Goyal has also agreed for ramping up of coal supplies to the state power utility’s (Punjab State Power Corporation limited) own thermal plants by converting one million tons of coal from road mode to rail mode during remaining paddy season from July to September, 2014 at the rate of three rakes per day.
In a letter written to Goyal, Badal also urged the Union Minister that keeping in view the overall national interest, a policy should be framed that minimizes coal transportation costs for states like Punjab that were land-locked and far away from pithead as well. He also emphasized the need for 100 per cent domestic coal linkage for power plants located in Punjab or land-locked states and use of imported coal for coastal states.