Going HOME to the CHINARS

Kirmani is a busy man these days as he prepares to launch his first concept studio in his home-town,Srinagar. This will also be the first designer store in the Valley. “I always wanted to start from home,” he says.

Located at Raj Bagh,the 800-square feet studio will stock menswear,with a wide range of sherwanis,suits,saafas and jootis. Kirmani also plans to take a few samples of womenswear and childrenswear. “I am working in two directions: one is to make the right products accessible to people in Kashmir,and the other is to target the marriage market and the growing corporate clientele there,” says the designer. Known to keep a low profile (some may mistake him for being aloof),Kirmani is reticent about his new store. Nor is he keen on throwing a big party with a glittering guest list. “I want people to feel easy instead of intimidated. They should not think that a big label has entered the market or worry about designer prices,” he says. There are other reasons behind his low-key approach. “What’s the big deal? People open stores in Delhi because it’s their home. Similarly,Kashmir is my home and I know everyone there — from the CM to an office worker,” he says.

It was in 2006 when Kirmani launched Bounipun,his label,which means chinar leaf in his mother tongue. The industry expected him to bring Kashmir on the ramp but he steered away from clichés. “I don’t want to do it just for the sake of it. I have seen many designers who work around Kashmir as a theme and I think ‘what rubbish!’ It’s like they have put curtains on the sleeves. I want to show Kashmir in its real form,” he adds.

Kirmani,who has worked with a brooding colour palette,has now moved from black,ivory and chocolate brown to pink,green and blue. It’s a symbolic shift that depicts his changing relationship with Delhi. “When I started off,it was all black and white — I remembered going for tuition classes and then hearing about bomb blasts in the Valley,” he says,talking about how the colours of Kashmir have influenced him and how there is never any bling on his clothes. Kashmir influences his pattern-making skills as well. “I am influenced by Islamic architecture,” he says,pointing to a tunic. “This is like khatamband,the pattern on wooden ceilings in Kashmir,” he explains.

Ranging between Rs 11,000 and Rs 60,000,Kirmani’s menswear collection at the Srinagar store will be in muted tones — grey,brown,white,off-white and blacks. “Men are boring,” he reasons.

He then goes on to talk about how it all began with painting chinar leaves on his shirts. Next to him,hangs a long kurta in pink with white chinar motifs and one realises that life has come full circle for him. “I can now be in Kashmir for a few months and come to Delhi for a week,” he says with a smile.