In the somewhat affected world of Kolkata fashion,where up-and-coming designers are only too happy to shed their regional identities and embrace a crisp pan-India accent,31-year-old Soumitra Mandal is almost a black sheep. He wears unassuming clothes,shies away from the media,speaks with a Bengali accent and identifies himself as a Howrah boy. I come from the suburbs of Kolkata,and where I come from has contributed a lot to what I am today. The small towns and villages surrounding Kolkata have wonderful weaving heritage. Places like Phulia and Bolpur are where you get the best of Bengali handloom,and these are the places that have shaped my sensibilities, says Mondal,who debuted at the media-blessed Mumbais Lakme Fashion Week platform in 2007. Mondals latest collection,which was shown at the Linen Club Fashion Show in Hyderabad on Sunday,was in keeping with his design philosophy. Its unpretentious and very earthy. Linen is one of my favourite fabrics and I love its versatility, he says. The linen collection will also be his first to focus on menswear. Until now,Mondal made womenswear prêt and designed trousseau for his clientele in Kolkata. I have designed for men before,but as an afterthought. This collection is all about menswear, says Mondal. So,there will be linen bandhgalas,jodhpurs and suits. While he made his much-applauded debut at LFW,the designer has decided to stay away from the platform for now. The buzz has it that politics and lack of money to keep going back to LFW is keeping him at bay,but Mondal insists he wants to streamline work schedules before he returns to the ramp. I have been a part of the grind and it needs a lot more organisational skill than creativity. To take part in both editions of a fashion week requires a lot of discipline. Until I have that in place,I have decided to stay away from such events, Mondal says. His work with weavers of Phulia village in Nadia district,who specialise in the jamdani style of weaving,has given a lease of life to the dying art form. I have about 70 weavers working under me,who are all gifted artisans. If I can set up a system through which they manage to sustain themselves and preserve their art form,I will consider myself blessed, says Mondal.
