From haute couture to prêt, the Indo-German designer Hemant Sagar, from lecoanet Hemant, gave us a quick sneak peek of his Autumn/winter 2016 collection. By Unnati Joshi
Being born to a German mother and an Indian father and having a French passport Hemant Sagar says that he is like a Molotov cocktail.
“I am totally mixed up. Not in my head though, I am very clear in my head. I am like a Molotov cocktail”, he laughed. The multi-award-winning designers Hemant Sagar and Didier lecoanet - have moved their business figuratively, from couture to ready-to-wear, and also from Paris to New Delhi.
Hemant Sagar and Didier lecoanet’s Autum/Winter 2016 collection is inspired with co-existence of tradition and modernity in ladakh. Talking about his collection, Hemant said, “It is a spirit kind of collection, very much inspired by ladakh. Of course by the traditional aspect of ladakh, the architecture and the influence of Buddhism but what blew my mind was spirit of modernity. How modern youth are on street, you can think that they are walking down fifth avenue in New York. I think the message here is, “It’s not aggressive and it's not incisive to be modern and modernity can very well cohabitate with tradition. And I think that’s beautiful”.
Underlining the message behind his collection, Genes, he said, “The message is of reaching out to each other. And also, about the future of humanity. We won’t be thinking of countries anymore, but of planets because we are already talking of sending people to Mars and other planets. I strongly believe that the brotherhood of mankind is yet to come”.
“I see Genes becoming a lifestyle for a select few, people who are interested to live in sync at their times will be automatically attracted by this collection”, he added.
About online marketing, the designer said, “Online marketing is like a traffic jam, people are not waiting for you right now, you have to foray your way to the business and have to have patience to create a place for yourself. It’s the same like offline shopping; they might walk out of your shop at the beginning. And with online market, it’s even worse. You have to entice people by giving all kinds offers and I don’t enjoy that. I feel at the end of the day, whether it’s internet or the shop, consistency is the key, giving people truth and profound statement of what you actually believe in”.
Sharing the concept of their successful partnership, Hemant said, “You have squabbles and fights everyday but then you look back and say, ‘My God, this is a successful partnershipIJ’ he laughed.
“Our partnership is punctuated by projects. A partnership, whatever it is whether a business partnership or a love partnership or a life partnership, it is not about looking into each other’s eyes but looking forward together”, he said.
Hemant and Didier are known for their fashion with a cause approach. When asked about the cause he said, “I am very happy to announce that in our company about 54 per cent are women. So I live in a cause, I am very goal oriented and I enjoy in being in sync with my aspirations”.
On being asked about five ‘must haves’ in a wardrobe, the expert said, “a perfecto (tight and short denim jacket), a pair of modern churidaar pants, a pair of bulky shoes like Doug Martens, which give a look to classic and traditional clothes, for sure a white shirt (a total must!) and a classic jacket”.
The designer duo has dressed many celebrities, but for Hemant, the most stylish Indian celebs are Rahul Khanna and Katrina Kaif. The designers launched the line at an event on Thursday at Vayu, Bikaner House in New Delhi.