Celebrity stylist and designer Eshaa Amiin, believes that versatility and wearability is the key to a successful label and that women now don’t need body con dresses, but comfort and functionality
By Asmita Aggarwal
Her Mumbai-based industrialist father never put any pressure on any of the three girls to join his family business, in fact Eshaa Amiin was given the freedom to do what she wanted, just like her sisters. “My older sister is a doctor, the other one is a software engineer living in New Jersey, so when I wanted to go to a fashion school, NIFT (Mumbai) to study apparel design in 2007, my parents fully supported me,” she says.
Eshaa honed her skills working with European export houses, but admits that her real forte is celebrity styling. She has a long and impressive list of clients ranging from late Sridevi to Lara Dutta and Pooja Hedge, this she managed despite not knowing anybody even remotely in Bollywood. But in 2014, she launched her label, fully understanding what works in the Indian market as being a stylist exposed her to both international as well as domestic labels. “I studied fashion so I know construction, technicalities and design, but styling helped me research trends and looks and a whole lot of foreign designers, and that’s why what I will probably dress Karishma Kapoor in, I may not give Pooja Hedge,” she adds.
Eshaa admits that styling has helped her work closely with Indian bodies so she is precise about what cut, colours and shapes suit them. “Wearability is what differentiates me, from others as I will never make anything that I myself can’t get into. But the play remains on prints darker for winter, softer for summer which I sometimes team up with solids. The textures are created using 3 D appliqué, beading and laser work and each piece works as a separate,” she confesses.
Though the fabrics that she has worked with in the past are mostly silks, modals and moss crepes, as she believes they fall better and can be draped effortlessly. “They have a distinct character, so you can use them to your advantage, while cutting and shaping them,” she explains.
Mix and match is what is the name of the game for Eshaa, who feels a customer must be able to wear one ensemble in three different ways, so it is value for money and it must last for at least three seasons. The ‘Untamed Desert’, her line for AIFW Aut-winter 2018, is inspired by the vulnerability of the desert and the majestic sky, that’s why the palette ranges from mustards moving into navy. There are jumpsuits, palazzos, shirt dresses as it is targeted at travel, so it is graceful yet powerful and super easy to carry.
“I don’t want women to be tied down in body con dresses, you can make her look beautiful in a skirt with a voluminous skirt, as versatility is what will sustain your brand,” she admits.
With the surge in social media which has given rise to bloggers and the fashion police as well as red carpet looks, many actresses don’t want to wear gowns, as most people would believe. “That’s where I come in and dress them in edgy pant suits or a dramatic dress, there are so many diverse silhouettes that you can work with,” she confirms. Her advice is to stop aping the West, as Indian girls are heavier on the hips, so low backs and plunging necklines, may not work so well here. “Also we as a nation are sensitive about exposure, so one can be bold, but one needs to do that tastefully,” she explains.