The Beginning Between 1988 and 1993 I lived in New York,  where I studied and ended up working for Tommy Boy Records – a pioneering hip hop label from the 80’s and 90’s. I returned to London (where I was born and schooled) to start a textile company converting textiles for large fashion retailers and brands. I later moved into fashion retailing as the partner in a clothing store and also had a small agency representing brands in the UK. I came to India ten years ago to help set up a liaison office for El Corte Ingles, a big Spanish department store chain and managed all their sourcing and production of garments and accessories. I left after three years to set up my own sourcing agency, which continues to operate.

Over the years I had become increasingly frustrated that I couldn’t find clothes I liked to wear and that fit me well. It was either a problem with fit, fabric, finish or price.  If the fit was good, the fabric wasn’t. If the price was good, pretty much nothing else was.  Even the “best” brands weren’t always made well.  Plus, the choices I had for clothes that I would want to wear was limited to traveling to London or Paris … but even then, it started to get all too similar! Where in Delhi could I find clothes I liked or remotely wanted to wear – the mall?  I’m not a a real fan of malls.

While I don’t claim to have all the answers, usually when you go shopping at “better” brands you either get no customer service, too much customer service, no sizes, or a mixture of all.  Also, where is the story? Where is the visual excitement?  The good music?  It’s usually a bunch of random pieces put on a rail. The music is either Kenny G or far too loud EDM.  It’s just not fun.

With my textile and garment construction knowledge, I started making my own pieces.  I had an abundance of great fabric on hand; I just needed to convert it into something interesting. I made some shirts using fabric I had … dyeing and over-dyeing them in my own colours. Then I took some clothes I had and re-engineered them into something new. Subsequently, taking it one step further,  I started to envision my own designs and detailing. With some determined encouragement,  I launched my brand KARDO in 2013.

KARDO was an old nickname – an abbreviation of sorts. I wanted to do something creative with my energy and instead of always working for other people’s creative input, I believed that I had an idea that needed to be explored. It took a while – I threw my first two collections out!

Then things started to click and what I wanted to express started to come through. I am a stickler for detail and construction. We spent a lot of time on getting our fit right … loads of edits and re-edits with my master pattern maker.  I prefer subtle, tiny detailing that is quiet yet strong – nothing that shouts. Clothes should be made well and stitching should be clean. Seams should be finished. Fabrics should be considered for the type of garment you are making.

On launching as a brand and retail store  I co-ran a clothing store and worked on the shop floor every day for 6 years.  I interacted with all types of customers, made a lot of friends, made some money and created an atmosphere by being friendly, knowledgeable about clothes and fabric as well as playing the best music. I learned about visual merchandising from my partner. It was fun but it was also the most important barometer for knowing what was good and what wasn’t.  A store is full of different products that should all fit together to make a seamless story –  that’s when customers come in and buy stuff.  So now for my brand, by selling my own pieces I get to watch how customers move through the collection, observe what they stop and look at and what they don’t.  Also, I get to see how things fit on different people. I can also engage in conversation about KARDO as well as why they like or don’t like a piece. This helps tremendously in gauging how well you are doing with all aspects of the brand … the style, fit, construction and story.

The store is also important to help me merchandise my collection.  You need to tell a story with your collection, it can’t just be disparate pieces put together.  If a customer sees a story, they are more likely to understand what you are trying to say. I don’t want the customer to buy every piece, but they should be able to see cohesion in the collection. From this, I can take the collection outside to other stores as well as work out how to merchandise on our e-commerce site.

E-commerce is the future, there is no doubt.  I am a traditionalist and enjoy the old way of doing things, but without embracing the future, we cannot survive.

All the effort you put into a personal relationship with one customer – the story, the descriptive of your collection etc, – you have to put into the written word with captivating visuals for a large online audience. This is new for me, and certainly a challenge, but extremely exciting. It makes everything global and accessible.  

People  My wife, Olivia Dar … super talented, always humble.  My daughter Basquiat … always keeps me on my toes!   Rajan Anandan, for his unrelenting positive outlook, encouragement and can-do attitude.  Punit Jasuja of Second Floor Studio – for his energy, support and kindness.  I can sometimes suffer from inertia … these guys keep me moving.

Influences Music has been a huge influence on me as well as my fashion tastes so David Bowie, Bryan Ferry of Roxy Music, David Sylvian from Japan and The Specials set the stage when I was growing up. Now I listen to Gilles Peterson and Radio Nova for my musical updates. Direct fashion influences are from Rei Kawakubo, Issey Miyake and Kenzo from Japan; Paul Smith (for always doing his own thing) and Savile Row from England; Karl Lagerfeld (early days) and YSL from Paris. Crockett and Tubbs from Miami Vice (1980s)!

Digital References hypebeast,  acontinuouslean,  Street Etiquette, Art Comes First,  BBC Football UK … without football there is no life!

No-Fail Playlist Stevie Wonder, Miles Davis and David Bowie – anything and everything they have ever done! Ian Dury “Hit Me With Your Rhythm Stick” | D’Angelo “Lady” | Plan B “She Said” | Nas “Illmatic” | Talking Heads “Burning Down the House” | The Specials “You’re Wondering Now” | Donny Hathaway “Jealous Guy” | Minnie Riperton “Les Fleurs” | Lupe Fiasco “Kick Push” | Llahsa de Sela “Decara a la Pased” | Leroy Hutson “All Because of You“ Work History Founder, Creative Director & General Dogsbody KARDO,  2013 – present Founder RRK Consult, Sourcing Agency 2007 – present Head of Apparel and Accessories  El Corte Ingles, Spanish Department store Liaison Sourcing office, New Delhi,  2004 – 2007 Partner Against the Grain – independent clothing store in London and Limassol, Cyprus, 1997 – 2003 Director SDK/ITOCHU, a joint venture with a Japanese trading house, 1993 – 1997 Production Assistant  TOMMY BOY RECORDS, 1992