At a party, I met for the first time Ms Sonalini Balakrishna, known as Shonali. She was wearing a long cream coat with gold embroidery and black boots with jewels on the heels. Her clothes were absolutely beautiful, and when she told me that she had made them, I was deeply impressed. Later that year, on New Year’s Eve, I ran into her in Bangalore, India, but never got to talk much. Finally I dug up her contact information from a friend of a friend, and arranged an interview. Thursday morning was my only free day during the Reagents week, and as soon as I woke up, I called her over the phone (there’s a ten and a half hour difference between New York and India). We did the preliminary formalities, and then started the interview.
How did you learn how to sew and start designing?
I didn’t start out doing design until quite late. Honestly, my major was molecular biology, and I did it because I was good at it, you know, math and science. But then, my family and I went on one little holiday when I was about 17 years old or 18 years old, to Paris, and I fell in love. It was my first taste of fashion. I enjoyed it and decided to pursue it. So while I was studying science, I took design courses on the side, and the next year I went to the Parson’s School of Design, NY. Three years late, I graduated from there, the Parson’s School of Design.
When you are a child of an Indian parent, you’re always expected to go into academics. They always wanted me to stay in India, and pursue science, but I went into Parson’s School four-year school program, and graduated in 3 years, since I had been taking credits in India along with my biology courses. I graduated with a double major in fashion design and marketing… Oh no, sorry, it was a double major in fashion design and art history. They didn’t have marketing in fashion then.
So what was it like going to the Parson’s School of Design in the US? I understand it was you’re first time living in the US?
Yes… it was my first time living in America. My parents said, well…You see, Tara, New York was a city that was so unfamiliar to everybody, and Parson’s school was right in the middle of Manhattan. There was no campus; it was right on the street. I had family in California, but there were no renowned art schools there. So I went to the Haas School of Business in Berkeley for a semester to ease the transition to America.
I then came to Parson’s and I loved every moment of it, I really did. I didn’t have a campus life there. Berkeley has a campus, but Parson’s is right in the middle of the street. There were people from all over the world at the school, and I loved New York. Honestly, it’s my favorite city in the world. We had wonderful teachers, teachers who were actually working in the field. We had CEOs that had their own company and came to lecture to us. It was amazing.
During the time that I studied in Parsons, I had two internships; one was at Christian Lacroix, and the other at Gucci. After graduation, I got a full time job at Giorgio Armani, in the corporate office. Now Tara, you’ve probably noticed that Georgia Armani has two different labels, the black label and the white label. I worked for the white label, which is Collezioni.[1]
How did you get your internships? Did you get them through the school, or…? And what did you do during your internships?
Yes, yes. The one at Christian Lacroix I got through the school. There I worked during a market period. A Market period is when... Okay, say the market period is for spring. If it was spring of let’s say, 2000, the time that I worked for Christian would be the summer of ‘99, trying to sell for Spring 2000. Market time is when you’re assisting to sell the collection to the buyers in America. There was a small office in Madison Avenue which helped see to customers. Later LVMH bought the company, but at the time, it was an independent company.
So you pretty much sell for a year in advance?
Well, yes. It was a summer internship, and I was selling for spring.
And Gucci?
Gucci was also through the school. I responded to add on the bulletin board.
The following year, after Christian Lacroix, through my last semester… Jan 2000 to May 2000. Interesting thing about Gucci was I that worked in the shop itself, on the floor. That was invaluable. Never in my life have I ever worked again in the stores, but that was one of the most invaluable experiences, because you can actually see the customers.
Were you talking to the customers? What do you mean “see” the customers?
Oh, I was just helping the sales associate. The sales associate was a professional, but I just helped in the back, you know? But could see the customer, and I did a lot of observation, like what they liked, what they bought. Especially in a store like Gucci, sales associates were like god. No, no, I really observed, but I picked up a lot.
So, what about Giorgio Armani? What was it like working in the corporate sector?
Just to let you know… Okay, so because I could work in Christian Lacroix, which was acquired by LVMH, Louis Vuitton Moet Hennessey…
Wait…what is that?
Oh, sorry. LVMH is a large parent company, and pretty much world’s biggest fashion conglomerate. During this time, it was expanding, and Christian le Croix was one of the labels acquired at the time. I had just graduated when Christian Lacroix was being acquired, and they asked me to join them again that summer. Everyone told me to join because then I would be acquired by LVMH. I wanted to work for Christian Lacroix, I really did, but you see Tara, when a company goes through reorganization, a lot of people are let go of. Because of sentimental reasons, and the person I’d worked with the summer before wasn’t going to be there that year, it just didn’t make sense to go with the corporate big dogs.[2]
So I saw another interview conducted at the school with Giorgio Armani. Armani is one of my favorite companies, and it’s a strong company. I really admire Armani. As a designer, Armani is a sole share holder, and that makes a difference. It was such a stable, strong company, that I got the job, and it was one of the most amazing years of my life. I was starting at the bottom of the totem pole, but people were really nice. They really were.
Anyway, my main job responsibility, was to be a liaison between the stores in America and the Armani factories in Milan; basically dealing with stores in America. The entire corporate office was trying to sell to the stores. The stores are our customers. The factories were really quite small. Small production. It was basically like working during the market period. Stores come to the collection show room, and order pieces from the collection that they think will work for the area that they come from. For example, a buyer in Florida wouldn’t necessarily buy winter stuff, but in Chicago they would buy more clothes for bad weather. There were about four marketing periods, pre-fall, pre-spring, and summer and winter. Summer was the busiest. There was the account executive. She had Bal Harbor, and Las Vegas, and other such large accounts. Each store was an account. I assisted her. I loved working, waking up, going to work, etc.
But in 2001 after September 11th, my family back in India, they were very wary of me being away, so I decided to leave and come back to India. I came back in Feb 2002.
If you don’t mind my asking, where were you on September 11th?
You know, in the US, in the entire year, you get only two weeks of vacation. I was here (in India)! I had finished with the market period in August, the busiest period, and left on the 1st and returned on the 14th. My parents didn’t want me to go back, but I stayed for about six months in New York City, and then went back.
So what did you do once you had returned?
Honestly, Tara, after I returned to Indian in 2002, February, it had been a while, and I didn’t know what to do with my life, and I decided to interview with companies in India, you know, fashion companies. You probably don’t know any of the names, as they weren’t well known then. I wanted to continue in corporate. I was about 26 years old, and it’s really hard to explain to people in India that I would be working for a long time. They’d always say “Oh, you’re going to get married, you’re going to have a child,” so I found it very, very difficult to interview for a corporate job in one of these really big Indian companies.
I wanted to target a niche market. Ready to wear had monopolized the market. At the time, it was not completely fashion oriented. Because I was in India, I had decided to do yoga lessons, and I realized that people don’t have anything to wear anything for yoga. You know, the women would wear their salwar kamis, and such, but they didn’t have good clothes for yoga. I decided to start with drawstring pants and tunic shirts. My first client was a lady in Spain with a yoga retreat. I know her from my San Francisco days. She didn’t have clothes to sell in the studio, so she bought a lot from me. So that’s how I started the yoga wear line. I returned to New York for six months, and every weekend I had an exhibition at shared town house. I would throw these spa yoga parties.
I had some customers in New York, but I soon realized that a lot of my clients were French. After brief sojourn in NY, I lived in Paris from November 2005 to March 2008. It was really nice to sink into a different culture, learn a different language. Except that the entire time, I’m dealing with only yoga clothing! What was agonizing was that I was in a country that sold beautiful ready wear clothing, with fabrics you can’t even imagine. There was a part of me that wanted a workshop of my own. I knew the easiest place to do it was India, where one could easily get fabric, labor and space, which is a commodity in Europe.
In March 2008, I moved back to Bangalore, and hired tailors, pattern makers, etc. It was a ready to wear line. The yoga wear line, called Sutra, which means string, but not just string. It's a very important yoga term, and it means an aphorism. Do you know what an aphorism is? It’s hard to explain, look it up. It’s like a statement[3]. Anyway, the yoga line was continuing on its one. The ready to wear line was called Devyani, which is actually my birth name. My parents named me Devyani before Shonali, but no one calls me Devyani, and just over time it changed it back to Shonali, but I always wanted to use the name Devyani.
What were some challenges that you faced?
Many! I launched in ‘09 and had a trunk show, but the biggest challenge was finding the retail space of a store, but in Bangalore I started to sell to a multi branch store. I didn’t participate in a fashion week[4], but I intend to do that in the coming months, in order to give me national exposure
But you know, Tara, at the end of the day, it has to sell. Having lived in NY, having lived in France, it (the brand) also has to live for the local market. The biggest challenge was that they’re (Indians) very used to having things tailored and custom made. People would call you and ask to come to your shop, or your house to have it tailored and custom made. Here it’s a lot about having it customized. The way to have a business is to have a steady customer and customize everything for them.
The other challenge was you hire all these people, right? The embroiderers are so talented; they’re Muslim, right? And managing people was very challenging. You need to sink into another culture to communicate with them. It’s such a delicate fine balance. You don’t want to alienate yourself, but you’re their boss, and you’re a team and you have stick together. You need them. You have to connect with them, and make them feel like the best buddy, but also be above it all. Also, another thing is that they’re all Muslim, and speak Hindi, and Hindi isn’t even my native language.[5] My mother tongue is Kannada.
But it’s also very fulfilling to have your own label, and it’s lot’s of investment.
What are your future plans for your line?
Honestly, because… ok… I would like to participate in a national tradeshow like a fashion week. It’s the surest way to get out there. My operation is fairly small, but I should think outside Bangalore a bit more, and expand a bit more. It takes a lot of time to prepare, and it’s also a lot of investment. It might have to wait until I have a full year, so maybe next year.
I’m trying to learn how to sew. Where do you think I should start?
It’s so funny you ask me this question. When I started in here, and I hired all these local people, they’d always go to second hand machines. Go for a machine that has already been running.
I have a machine. I was more wondering what would be the best way to get an introduction to sewing and fashion and such.
Honestly I don’t use the class at all today, I don’t sew at all. There’s nothing like having a class in that, in having the basics. First learn how to sew the basics. The pattern making is not… That’s another thing, you know in India, I just use the talent, and all the pattern masters are there. You know the classes helped me know what’s good and bad (when hiring). I don’t make the patterns myself, but knowing the basics is key.
You are so lucky that you are so close to New York City. It’s so accessible to you, only a four hour bus ride[6]. If you ever get a chance to do a summer in NYC, education is something that you’ll always value. It’ll come back to you, even if you don’t use it. You could take a few classes at Parson’s, even FIT (the Fashion Institute of Technology, in NYC), which may be more affordable.
So, please tell me a little bit about WISE, and what you will be doing.
WISE is an English class where for the second semester, you design and then execute your own project. Then at the end of the semester, you do a report and a thirty minute presentation on what you accomplished. It can be anything you want. I decided that I would like to learn how to sew, and then design and make about five outfits. I’m really excited to start my project. I hope to start designing a few outfits, and then create them once I learn how to sew.
I think that’s wonderful, because that would teach you a completely new trade. Just the fact that you’ll be learning an entire new skill compared to your main focus, that’s great.
Please let me know if you need any help
Definitely. If you wouldn’t mind, I would love it if you could look at a few of my designs, and give me feedback. And if there are any people you know who I would be able to contact as well for guidance or information about the industry, that would be extremely useful.
Yes, I believe I have two contacts for you. I’ll email them to you in a few weeks.
Great! The reason why I chose to interview you first was that I’m very interested in the fusion of Eastern and Western fashion, which is something you truly excel in. I saw what you were wearing at the party, and it was amazing. Perhaps you could send me some pictures of your designs and workshop?
What I do is that in the ready to wear, I use a lot of Indian embroidery, but all of my styling is Western. If I do an entirely Indian outfit, I’ll make it with a completely western design.
Do you have a website?
One big, big plan is to get that website up and running. Now I realize the magnitude, it’s so important.
Well, that’s it. Thank you so much for your time. And I hope I will be able to talk to you more as my project progresses.
Of course! It was so nice to talk to you, and I will definitely send you those two references soon.
[1] I actually had no clue about this, so I looked it up, and got a full description about the two labels and how to distinguish them, as well as the difference between the two brands. See Bibliography, “How to Spot Fake Armani Clothes.”
[2] I looked into the fate of Christian Lacroix, and unfortunately, after being let go in 2005 from LVMH, he ended up going bankrupt! Good thing Shonali didn’t go back. See Bibliography, Colchester.
[3] Aphorism: noun- a concise statement of a principle.
[4] “A fashion week is a fashion industry event, lasting approximately one week, which allows fashion designers, brands or "houses" to display their latest collections in runway shows and buyers to take a look at the latest trends. Most importantly, it lets the industry know what's "in" and what's "out" for the season.” (From Wikipedia). Shonali was talking about the fashion week in India.
[5] In India, there a hundreds of languages, all as different from each other as Swahili is from French. The most common languages are English and Hindi, and most likely, Hindi is not the native language of Shonali’s workers either!
[6] In India, traveling anywhere takes about an hour. Four hours in India will get you about the same distance as Syracuse from here.
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