Giving a u-turn to his fashion career, ace designer Suneet Varma showcased his new collection of utensils recently, Arjita Mishra reports
As we took a step in the store, we found an installation in the shape of branches of a tree, made up from the steel utensils such as kadahi, glass, thali, bucket, jug and all the utensils which are used in kitchen. By just looking at that installation, one could imagine of what a classy thought and mind must have gone behind to make it possible. Here we are talking about Arttd’inox, a showroom with a luxurious line of homeware and table top accessories.
The leading brand has collaborated with the fashion designer Suneet Varma and has launched its exclusive collection of homeware and table top accessories along with the designs of modular kitchen. Deepika Jindal, the executive creative director and MD of Arttd’inox, on collaborating with the designer said, “When I thought of going beyond and creating and offering a collection which is unique, not just in design but also in the craftsmanship, I could only think of Suneet. We are absolutely delighted with what Suneet has designed for our store.”
We have always seen Varma at fashion week showcasing his collection using textiles and embroidery. But this time, the designer had created a collection by going beyond the league. This is what he had done for the first time. So, when we asked him about his experience, he shared, “The experience of working with one of the hardest materials in the world – stainless steel has been very exciting. From working with textiles over the decades to creating home products now, my design philosophy has come full circle.”
One of our earliest civilisation, Indus Valley Civilisation, was the main inspiration for the designer and to bring that look on the utensils, he visited various archives to gather the knowledge. “I have tried to give a look to all the utensils from that era. So, I visited all the archives for Indus valley civilisation. If you look at the collection, there is a hand technique called chitai where metal is beaten by the hammer to create the designs, all of them is from that era,” said Varma.
The designer started his career 28 years ago from a small store at Hauz Khaz village and Jindal was his first client so, they both share a great bond since then. “When she (Jindal) asked me ‘would you like to do thisIJ’I immediately said I would love to do it,” said Varma and we could see his excitement through his eyes. He shared with us that he was looking for an opportunity to work in interiors and gifting ideas for a very long time. According to him, “I had many offers as well but I have always been very careful of whom I am collaborating with because I like very long term collaboration because I want people to allow me to bring my own aesthetic to the product, range, line and everything. So, when Deepika gave me this opportunity, I jumped onto it and I said absolutely I will do it.”
“I have created this whole collection in just six months which was quite a less time for me as I have an experience of working with textiles and that is why I asked Deepika to teach me something because coming from a different background to metal is very difficult,” the designer pointed out. He further added, “I went to their place and did a lot of hand holding from their design teams and now you can see the result.”
“Arttd’inox write their name in pink colour but, Deepika allowed me to write the brand’s name and my name in silver,” he concluded.