The Beginning  When I returned to India after four years in London, basics were the hardest to shop for. If I loved the shape of something, I wished it didn’t have one extra detail. There was a need to edit. I hadn’t considered starting my own brand but my graduating collection got me thinking: we take a year to make that collection but do nothing with it. I decided to send mine to the Gen Next show at Lakme Fashion Week (Mumbai) where emerging designers are chosen to debut their collections. After Gen Next, people started to approach me differently at a wholesale level. The aesthetic had started to come together and all I had to do was consolidate what I was doing. I didn’t want to formalise it before because to be honest, I wasn’t sure I could. Starting a label sounded overwhelming – which it is. But I had built up confidence and experience through internships at Vivienne Westwood, part-time retail jobs at stores like FCUK, as a college librarian for two years, and backstage at Fashion Week.

A bodice is the first block in patternmaking. Centuries old, it’s where the science begins: with the basic round neck and armhole shape till the waist. It’s the first thing they give you at fashion school. BODICE is very elementary, simple and classic. The name seemed like a good fit.

As a student at the London College of Fashion, I would play with my clothes a lot. I shopped vintage and would then alter to make things sit right. I would turn a shirt into a dress or add details to make it slightly modern. My friends began asking me to make clothes for them. The extra money was great, but it was also the first time I realised I could make things that people want. London gave me independence and the opportunity to form my own philosophy or general outlook. It was a wholesome, challenging experience that went further than college. I was 19 when I left, following high school and a Foundation degree at Pearl Academy. The Womenswear Design program is not an easy course – plus, it was my first venture outside India, and home.

Above: images | BODICE studio; flagship store in Hauz Khas village, New Delhi 

Building Blocks  I can’t say there was one day that I felt, “This is how it should be done” and changed everything. I’ve made mistakes and learnt from them. BODICE officially began in 2011 and I’ve had many mini moments of achievement: being Le New Black’s winner in 2014, a trade fair in Paris, being on Forbes’ 30 Under 30 list, opening my own store, and winning the 2014 Vogue India Fashion Fund.

We showcased in Delhi again this year after winning the Vogue India Fashion Fund. The show is sponsored plus it has pushed me to put together a cohesive collection of 35 looks. It helps when you’re working on someone else’s deadline. Extra funds helped us add elements that were otherwise out of our reach. Like the shoes for A/W 2015, and a beautiful warehouse shoot for which we flew in two models. It makes for less compromises all around.

It doesn’t have to be too much to be good. You don’t have to try too hard. When you really want something you end up trying too hard – not just with clothes but life. It’s actually when you don’t try, when you cut yourself back that you perform. Editing is our biggest story. Knowing what’s enough and being able to really do it.

Above: images | BODICE studio; A/W 2015 Look Book; AIFW source | BODICE

Storytelling & Reinvention  As a young label, you start with an invention. After a point, you get pulled in different directions especially when what you’re trying to say doesn’t sell. For us the balance lies in sticking to our story and being careful when we add elements. Editing, refining and cutting is an important part of this story. I don’t know if I’d call it minimal because I do try to add elements. I get bored with repetition; hence the polka dots, richer palette and textures for A/W 2015.

I think travel feeds into my design sensibility subconsciously because that’s when I think about design purely. Otherwise, I have to steal time to design during my day; there’s so much to do when you manage a team. You have to make sure that everyone is doing what they’re supposed to do, deliveries are made, rent and salaries are paid, expansion, whether we’re in the stores we need to be in.  Last year I tried to mix work with leisure. I was in Australia for New Years Eve which was amazing because it’s such a massive green country. And then Paris, Bordeaux and Biarritz, London, New York, Kochi, Varanasi, and Auroville which I especially enjoyed.

Travel feeds me pure inspiration about the story I want to tell. When I travel I don’t think about emails, phone calls and to-do lists. I leave them behind.

Above: images | ACNE store on Dover Street in London, photograph by Pablo Bartholomew, haircut, baskets at a natural hair dye farm in Hyderabad  source | Ruchika Sachdeva

Team Effort We are a lot more structured than we used to be. I design the clothes, but have interns helping with research and fabric sourcing. I have two girls working on the non-design front i.e. merchandising and sales. We have 10 tailors, a quality control and packaging department. Our in-house manufacturing team works with the pattern master and tailors, and the sales team works with stores we retail at in India and abroad.

Thoughtful Design Our second collection onward, we started experimenting with handloom. It’s always been the intention but it takes energy and research to find dependable sources. The handloom and natural dye sectors are unorganised; making connections and building relationships has taken its time. I also didn’t want to start out and promote us as a sustainable brand because more than sustainable, it’s thoughtful design. For example, this season, 10% of the collection is reversible. We have a jacket that you can wear inside out as a new design. It’s a versatile classic that can be worn through winter, at home because it’s comfortable or for meetings and occasion wear. We have garments adjustable at the waist that cover two sizes. I play with construction and utility and I’m trying more things that can be washed instead of dry cleaned. Clothing that doesn’t have to be ironed because the materials aren’t stiff, so you can travel with them.

Interning at Vivienne Westwood – her rebelliousness and social message – made me more thoughtful about what I wanted to do, more than anything else. I’m not just trying to make beautiful clothes here. My silhouettes are strong and they are the foundation of BODICE, but take, for example, the effort I’m putting into fabric sourcing. Not a lot of people know that we do sustainable clothing. I want it to be a subdued message because it’s not meant to be a marketing tool. It’s become something that I wouldn’t do any other way.

Above: images | Paperback cover of Rei Kawakubo and Comme des Garcons by Deyan Sudjic; at an exhibition on Sachin Tendulkar in Mumbai; photo from Tokyo visit; BODICE studio  source | Ruchika Sachdeva

Digital References NOWNESS  SHOWstudio  Sulk Station among others on Soundcloud

People My master tailor has traits that I admire. Sarah, who used to work at BODICE, is another. She is extremely professional and taught me a lot about management and marketing. It’s usually people I spend a lot of time with and right now life revolves around work. My mum, who encouraged me to be independent and make my own money. She was married when she was 17, had three kids by the time she was 24. She has always been vocal about us standing on our feet. While I was still in school, and my sister was enrolled at NIFT’s Accessories Design program, I watched her play with materials, moulding glass and metal to create new forms. My instinct was to imitate or follow suit and all I could think of was clothes. It started with draping and stitching my mother’s dupattas when I was younger. I suppose I just continued – and decided to make a career out of it.

Above: images | BODICE studio and store  

Work History  BODICE: Founder and Creative Director, New Delhi. May 2011 – present DR Clothing Export House: Design Consultant, New Delhi. 2011 Vivienne Westwood: Design Intern, London, for LFW A/W 2009-10 collection Giles Deacon: Design intern, London, for LFW A/W 2008-09 collection

Note: Bodice is / was a client of the Border&Fall Agency.