Change in Gear

When designer Arjun Khanna joined owners Rohan Talwar and Ranbir Batra to play host at the launch of Mumbais fine-dining restaurant Ellipsis earlier this month,Khannas involvement was not just limited to deciding the guest list.

When designer Arjun Khanna joined owners Rohan Talwar and Ranbir Batra to play host at the launch of Mumbais fine-dining restaurant Ellipsis earlier this month,Khannas involvement was not just limited to deciding the guest list. He had also put together the staffs uniforms. Both Rohan and Ranbir are my friends and they asked me to design the uniforms for their staff. They gave me absolute freedom to create whatever I wanted, says the designer. He drew inspiration from the space,right from the green and orange piping that captures the bursts of coloured tiles in the bar,to the cravats and skinny ties that are in line with the whole look and feel of the prohibition-era theme. There is a sense of formality,but with a twist, he adds.

Khanna is among an increasing number of fashion designers who are using their professional expertise to design uniforms and corporate wear for different companies be it restaurants and spas or airlines and banks. For instance,designer duo Lecoanet Didier and Hemant Sagar of the label Lecoanet Hemant have a dedicated factory in Gurgaon that manufactures uniforms for several hotels,salons and spas,including the well-known Ananda in the Himalayas. Designers cant just rely on their fashion lines to bring in the money. There is a great demand for uniforms across different industries and we are catering to it in a big way, says Sagar. He also notes how this market is growing bigger by the day. Almost 60 per cent of our business comes from the sale of uniforms, adds Sagar.

This is also perhaps the reason that many leading designers such as Wendell Rodricks,Ritu Beri and Rajesh Pratap Singh are creating uniforms for several companies. While Rodricks has designed uniforms for hotels such as the Goa Marriott Resort,Beri recently worked on the uniforms for Chandigarhs fine-diner The Pewter Room and Singh is credited with designing the uniforms for Indigo Airlines. Among the newer names,Kashmirs Zubair Kirmani has recently finished making uniforms for The Vintage Hotel in Gulmarg.

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Acknowledging the importance of professional expertise,the government,too,is initiating changes.

So,while the Indian Air Force will upgrade its uniform quality with assistance from both National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) and Indian Institute of Technology (IIT),the Kendriya Vidyalaya Sangathan has unveiled the new smart uniforms developed by NIFT and the Ministry

of Textiles.

Making uniforms,however,is no mean feat,say designers. Priyadarshini Rao,who doesnt have a manufacturing unit but has designed uniforms for the retail staff of telecom companies and even banks such as ICICI feels that durability and comfort are of utmost importance as are the brands values,logos and key colours.

The signature style takes a back seat as one has to choose the fabrics keeping these factors in mind. So I cant use khadi in such a line; instead,I would opt for wrinkle-free polyester, she explains.

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Raghavendra Rathore,who has been designing uniforms for decades,points out that uniforms are not just about the staff wearing similar clothes. It has more to do with recall value. Businesses can cleverly build a brand through good uniform designs and use them as a tool for marketing their image effectively, says the designer,whose client list boasts the Aamby Valley School and hotels such as ITC Mughal in Agra and ITC Sheraton in Jaipur.

Its a look of exclusivity that makes clients opt for designer gear for their staff. Since we were launching a restaurant that was different from the rest in the city,we wanted this to reflect in the uniforms of our staff, admits Anu Bains,owner of The Pewter Room.

Ellipsis owner Talwar agrees and adds that Arjun Khannas aesthetic sense and creativity far exceeds anything that he has seen in Mumbai. Our mutual belief in high quality and the importance of delivering integrity to our customers,made it

the perfect marriage, he says.

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Change in Gear

When designer Arjun Khanna joined owners Rohan Talwar and Ranbir Batra to play host at the launch of Mumbais fine-dining restaurant Ellipsis earlier this month,Khannas involvement was not just limited to deciding the guest list.

When designer Arjun Khanna joined owners Rohan Talwar and Ranbir Batra to play host at the launch of Mumbais fine-dining restaurant Ellipsis earlier this month,Khannas involvement was not just limited to deciding the guest list.