Brass Tacks Gold

December sales were not what I hoped they would be. I knew I was taking a risk with the focus on party wear, but I didn’t realize what a small segment of the market I was catering to with those styles - not because only a small segment is interested in party wear, but because those styles don’t necessarily appeal to everyone. I liked the collection though- and it was fun to design styles and put them out there because I wanted them to be a part of the collection, rather than editing them until they “fit in” with the styles that have done well in the past.

From customer feedback and sales, it seemed as if people either really liked the styles in the latest Winter Collection, or they really disliked them. There weren’t many in-betweens. In many ways this is a good thing because it means that the brand has a distinct point of view. However exploring the area of “fashion-forward, niche clothing” has meant catering to a narrower and slightly more high-end customer base – which, aside from the sales perspective, wasn’t really what I set out to do with Brass Tacks. What can I say- I got carried away with designing and forgot to think about commercial appeal!

I want to design creative clothes, but I also want to appeal to a wider, more mainstream customer. Enter new plan: Brass Tacks Gold. In every collection I will have 2 or 3 styles that are a little more adventurous and fashion-forward compared to the usual Brass Tacks collections. These styles can be quirky or glamorous, but they must be visually distinctive. From this past collection French Parfait (with more volume at the hip ruching) and Sculpted Dhoti fall into the Brass Tacks Gold aesthetic. For these styles I will have a small inventory, but these are the styles that will carry the brand image. The rest of the styles in the collection (around 10 styles) will stick to the core Brass Tacks aesthetic: simple, with small twists and tailoring details.

French Parfait (left) and Sculpted Dhoti (right)

2009 has been a difficult year with a lot of lessons learned. Now with the new pricing scheme, a “kurta” quota in every collection, and ‘Brass Tacks Gold’, I’m excited for this year.

Get this look: Sculpted Dhoti

I used to have a problem with the way media, and fashion magazines in particular, sell products. The cosmetics section in every magazine is cleverly called the “beauty” section (you’re not beautiful this month if you don’t wear xxx eyeshadow), and the writing on fashion and lifestyle almost makes you feel frumpy for not wearing the latest fashion trend (on their list of essentials this winter is a 42k wool cardigan) or not using words like staycation. Of course this could just be a case of sour grapes because every attempt I’ve made to get Brass Tacks featured in Vogue has been in vain. The closest I’ve come is Lavanya Nalli wearing one of my tops in her feature (thank you, Lavanya).

left: Lavanya Nalli in Vogue Magazine; right: "Swatches" from the Spring '09 collection.

But truth be told (and I like to tell the truth), I have a much better understanding for how the industry works now that I too have a product to sell. It’s not always about selling reality- it’s about creating a fantasy and giving people something cool or glamorous to aspire for. Owning the product is not the fantasy, but using/wearing it should make the owner feel a part of the fantasy.

Fashion shouldn’t be rigid in its instructions on what to wear and what not to wear. After all in an ideal world we should all wear something that is representative of our inner selves- and how homogeneous would the world be if we all shifted from one trend to another at the same time? Fashion can however open our minds to other forms of self-expression. Up until recently I never used to pay attention to fashion trends and I always focused on the overall look of a garment while designing. My new found insight has now taught me that it’s not only about the look, it’s about the feeling as well; I need to design clothes that make the wearer look and feel good.

"Sculpted Dhoti", in burnt orange and olive from the Winter '09 Collection.

Inspired by all the Harem and Turkish and Dhoti pants I’ve been seeing in magazines, I made my own pair of dhoti pants for this winter collection. I’ve always felt that this look is perfect for Indian women who are confident and proud enough to embrace their hips, and I really think it has a lot more attitude then a cocktail dress. So come over to my store and get this look- it can only help your stylish staycation get better. Oh and don’t forget to rock it with a pair of heels and a glass of single malt in hand. That’s right, Single malt is the new Mojito.

Okay, I’ll stop now.

Monsoon 09 Textile Details

Many people have told me that my website should have a zoom facility so that they can see the texture of the fabric and some of the garment details. I was in such a hurry to get a website done within a certain budget that I didn't look into providing some of the options that you often see on websites that have online shopping (which is a pity because the photos don't always do justice to a garment made from fabric with so much depth). It's probably going to be a while before I get the website re-vamped again (it's a painful amount of micro-managing every time) and I know a home photography job isn't the best way to show the textile details, but here are some photos of the fabrics from the latest Monsoon Collection

Silk ikat woven in Andhra Pradesh for "Black Orchid".
Mud resist block printing done on tussar-cotton fabric in Kaladera, Rajasthan for "Cinched Kimono".

Soft cotton twill handwoven in Andhra Pradesh for "Comfort Skirt"

Jamdaani (the black motifs done by adding an extra weft by hand) on khadi cotton, handwoven in Andhra Pradesh for "Lady Bird"

Handwoven cotton with coloured ribs from Andhra Pradesh, for "Snapdragon".
Some of these photos have two fabrics to show other colour options in the same style.

Monsoon Collection 2009

Every time I launch a new collection I say I’m excited about it, but this time it’s not just the excitement of putting something new out there and waiting to see the response. It’s exciting because I’ve tried harder to incorporate feedback about pricing, while also trying to make clothes that are less safe. I’ve stayed away from the shaped “shift dress” pattern this time with my evening dresses: one is a silk halter dress in ikat ("Black Orchid") and the other is a printed tussar dress with ruched sleeves ("Epiphyte"). My summer collection had a lot of sleeveless tops so this collection is a bit stronger in the sleeves department, but most important of all, with this collection begins a new pricing scheme that I’m starting.

Normally the costing for my garments is the sum of materials and tailoring cost (which is standard across all styles) multiplied by a profit margin. With this collection I’ve tried to get a more accurate measure of the tailoring cost per style (some styles are simple and one tailor can make 4 garments in a day, while others are more complicated and can take a tailor nearly 6 hours to make one piece). This means that the simpler garments have become less expensive than what they would have been compared to the old pricing scheme, but it also means that the complex garments have become more expensive. Hopefully it will be for the good however, because now I offer a wider range of prices at my store (Rs 660 to Rs 3000).

The goal for this collection was to take the “Brass Tacks look” up by a notch or two and try styles that are more adventurous and more glamourous as well. Except for the “Shirt Dress” which has a very different look (I like it, but it definitely stands apart from the rest of the collection), I’m happy with how cohesive this collection has turned out. In fact it’s more cohesive than some of my past collections even though the theme isn’t as strong.

Below are some of the creative shots from this collection. I wanted the flowers to add to the glamour aspect without looking like an incongruous prop, so I made them accessories that complimented the outfit. I tried so hard to source Hanging Heliconias for the khadi dress ("Lady Bird") but couldn’t find any the day before the shoot so we had to cut regular Heliconias and string them together with wires. My photographer did wonders with the lighting to create a fabulous backdrop, the model was enthusiastic and helpful throughout the day, and the owners of my favourite childhood store lent their jewellery for the shoot (just in case you were wondering, back in the day I used to buy their handmade paper and I didn’t start buying their jewellery until a few years ago).

"Lady Bird", cotton khadi dress with pleat details at the neck. The shrug (“Colombo Shrug”) that is photographed in this dress got ready only by 4pm so I didn’t get to shoot it with the dress in the catalogue shots.


"Black Orchid", a halter neck dress made from handwoven mulberry silk with diamond shaped ikat designs. White Orchids were draped on her arms (by the model's friend who showed up in the evening to lend a hand) and I love the final outcome- looks like orchids are growing on her arm!


"Epiphyte", a printed tussar-silk dress with a fitted empire line and ruched sleeves. These Aranthera Anne Black orchids we used to braid into the model's hair and twist around her neck were so easy to work with. The flowers never fell off despite all the twisting and the colour looked great with the dress.

Jewellery: Courtesy of Aesthetics, Radha Krishna Salai (ph: 044- 2811-1973).

The rest of the pictures will be up on the website soon.

Conforming to Stand Out

In the last couple of months I’ve been going through a lot of self-doubt about my brand; wondering if what I want to do is a viable plan, and if there are enough people out there who share my taste. A lot of the feedback I’ve been hearing of late is that my clothes have cuts and styles that are "very young" but in fabrics that are meant for “old people”.

Ouch, right?

But let's set aside how crushed I feel when I see young women try on my clothes and say “it makes me look like I’m forty”. After all I suppose I can look on the bright side and take some strange comfort in the fact that they can see what I am trying to do at Brass Tacks. The whole point at Brass Tacks is to take handwoven fabrics and give them a makeover in the form of tailored, stylish clothing. However if my target customer still feels that the fabrics are making the overall garment look old, then I’ve not succeeded in my design goal.

One lady told me that the designs look “confused” because they are neither for older women (too tailored and fitted with adventurous cuts) nor are they for younger women (“old” colours and fabrics). Well if I have to be either “here” or “there” to make this for-profit model work, then here are my choices:

Plan A: Continue doing what I do with Brass Tacks designs, but also incorporate more mill made fabrics that are easier to care for, less expensive, and most importantly “young looking”. So for example if I am making an evening dresses in cotton khadi and it does relatively well, I might consider repeating it in mill made silk in a popular colour like magenta or turquoise (you know, colours that really pop). This way I will be able to cater to a wider range of tastes without losing the core ideals and fabrics that I love.

Plan B: Very similar to A, except to keep the brand image intact I need to have the less expensive and more mass appeal range of clothing under a different brand name. This will also allow me to monitor more closely which brand attracts more people or if there is an overlap, but in terms of logistics it’s a bit harder to do at the moment.

And while I figure out which plan to go with for my Winter collection, my team is scrambling to put the Monsoon collection together (sans two tailors who have swine flu). We finally managed to get the pattern right for this halter dress that I am making in a black silk with diamond shaped ikat designs. I tried it on today and breathed a sigh of relief, momentarily forgetting my deadlines, the amount of work I have ahead of me in the next 2 weeks, and all the bills I have to pay.

See I’m not confused. I’m just negotiating new territory on my own terms.

Flirting with Lycra

Geeky blog title I know, but I can explain. A couple of months ago I bought these fabulous cotton pants with a little lycra woven into the fabric. They fit me perfectly and they are so versatile- for hot and cool days, for almost every occasion, and for pretty much every top I own. I love these pants so much that I rarely wear my jeans or my own Brass Tacks linen pants anymore. One evening I washed my pants at night so that I could wear them again the next morning and that’s when I realized there was something strange going on here. As my own brand ambassador, it is hypocritical that I live in trousers that Brass Tacks doesn’t produce?

One of Brass Tacks’ selling points, using only natural fibres, evolved while explaining my brand’s specialty to entrepreneurs and marketing consultants. Many of them liked the idea of natural fabrics because selling yourself as an eco-friendly brand is really in vogue right now. For me using natural fabrics was a given (rather than a choice) because I never wear synthetic fibres, barring the occasional cotton garment with lycra mixed into the weave. The real selling point of my brand, to me, is the marriage of handwoven textiles with a cosmopolitan, tailored look.

I have always maintained that in order to complete an outfit, I may use mill-made fabric (like my linen trousers). So then is it so bad to use a bit of lycra in my trousers to create a more fitted look if it completes an outfit? Some of my kurtas (worn like tunics) and mini-dresses do look best with leggings or really fitted Capri pants- neither of which I make. Also, for my collection photo-shoots I’m forced to pair all my tops, kurtas, and mini-dresses with my linen trousers even though I know some of them would look much better with a fitted pair of pants (I don’t think it’s fair to show an outfit on the website unless it’s 100% Brass Tacks). But the real question here is why am I not making a complete outfit in my own company if I am constantly recommending a pair of leggings or fitted Capri pants to customers who buy my tunics? Would I be letting down my brand, or could using lycra enable me to sell more hand-loom garments? Studies (seconded by my experiences in retail) show that women are more likely to make a purchase if they can buy a complete outfit in the same store.

I used to think I was the only one with a strange waist-hip proportion that made it hard to shop for trousers in India. Talking to my friends and customers has made me realize that there are very few brands that exist in India that retail affordable, well-cut trousers (with or without lycra). This is just more incentive to provide more variety at my store, and add one well-cut pair of cotton trousers and another fitted pair with lycra.

But as you can see I’m a bit torn. I don’t want to get greedy and in the process dilute my brand image. So send in your thoughts and feedback; reassure me or dissuade me.

Above, an example of a tunic that would look better as a complete outfit with fitted pants rather than the looser linen ones shown here.

2nd Birthday

On August 10th my store turned two. This past year has been amazing in terms of learning experiences, growth and also creativity. I feel I am closer to finding my voice, I’m reaching out to more Brass Tacks customers, and I’m also incorporating suggestions without having to compromise on my creativity. Of course I’ve had some downs – perhaps a couple of downs for every up – but overall I’m really happy with the way things are going, and so grateful to everyone who has helped along the way.

During my sale last year I was surprised to see the overwhelming response; customers trooped in and out throughout the day and on the first day I sold around 40 pieces. Not all those pieces were on sale, which led me to believe that announcing a sale is also a way to remind customers that you exist.

I had a similar experience this year, selling 100 pieces in the first two days of the sale, but now I’m learning more from these sales. I think people are more willing to buy something they consider expensive if they know they can also get great value for money on some other pieces. So someone would rather buy one dress for Rs 2000 along with 2 tops for Rs 500 each, rather than one evening dress for Rs 3000. Intuitively that does make sense, but I just never thought along those lines before. Observing customers in the store is a lot more conducive to understanding their rationale than sitting in front of an excel sheet (which is how I do my pricing).

I’m now ready to try out a pricing experiment with my upcoming Monsoon collection. I want to see how I can spread my production cost across my collection to allow for some garments to be less expensive than others. Before it was an even distribution, but now it will be according to level of complexity. The simpler garments will end up being less expensive, but the more complicated ones with a lot of tailoring details will work out to be more expensive.

Getting back to the sale, things were going too well for that Corporation Shopping Complex (I’m already battling a case with a leakage in the building and no drainage on the street for rain water), so on Tuesday afternoon at 3pm the electricity went off. My inverter carried us through to the end of the day (without the air conditioner though) but all of Wednesday we had no power. One of the power lines had burnt, affecting 5 shops in the building and as luck would have it mine was one of them. The corporation waited for a few hours on Tuesday before declaring that it was too dark to start work that day. On Wednesday they hired electricians and labourers to dig up the road to find the burnt cable, which they finally found at around 6pm that day. Still giddy from Sunday’s sales, I went up to them filled with naïve enthusiasm and asked, “So it will be fixed by tonight, right”?

Electrician: Well now that we’ve found it there’s little left to do. If we don’t finish it tonight then it will take only 30 minutes to complete in the morning.

Me: Great, I’m so glad. We’ve lost out on a lot of sales because of no power today.

Electrician: The thing is, tomorrow is a government holiday, and Independence day is coming up on Saturday, so we were hoping to get a long weekend starting from this evening….

Note: To compensate for days lost without power, after Independence day on Saturday (we will be closed on August 15th), we will continue with the sale for another week.

Waiting and Watching

Last week has been exhausting with my launch at Daaram and then a busy week here in Chennai without a break. But it has been worth it and I feel as if I’ve learned a thing or two about myself as well as about Brass Tacks.

Daaram pulls in an interesting crowd. The store is very particular that they retail only handloom products so rather than sharing a common socio-economic background, their customers share a common interest. Having said that, the look and a price of a product does determine your market, and Daaram’s clothes are very straightforward and their prices are low (tops start at Rs 250 and their most expensive kurta is Rs 1100).

The really great thing for me is that the store has a lot of people walking in everyday, and by sheer numbers even if a few of them are interested in Brass Tacks, that’s a good start for me. The feedback I got from many customers was indicative that Daaram and I are yet to reach out to the kind of person who will wear Brass Tacks. Many of the women felt the clothes were “too western” (the tops were too short- i.e. not covering the hip like a kurti), too many of them were sleeveless, or the prices were too high. Still, there were quite a few young women who came in, tried on many pieces and bought a few.

At first my expectations were really high (note to self: stop doing that!) but by the last day I had gone to the other extreme, feeling really skeptical about things sales picking up. I had to remind myself that things were not so different at my own store when I started out. The partners at Daaram seem very confident that Brass Tacks will do well and that there is a demand for that genre of clothing. It’s just a question of time and reaching out to the kind of people who are into tailored clothing with interesting (and sometimes quirky) details. And so much for creating such a strong distinction between a Daaram and a Brass Tacks customer- many women were happy to buy both, which means I am still figuring out who my customer is.

Another interesting thing I noticed is that being surrounded by so much handwoven fabric in subtle colours made me think about designs that are a bit…well, less tailored than the usual Brass Tacks look. I often get inspiration for designs from the fabric itself, and mill made fabrics or handwoven fabrics in mercerized cotton lend themselves very well to crisp, tailored, fitted clothing. But the soft, dull yarn in the fabrics at Daaram made me think of design ideas for shapely but still flowy styles. I’ve ordered some khadi yardage for those styles and hopefully those ideas in my head will evolve into something tangible for my Winter Collection.

Below, some pictures of the Brass Tacks corner at Daaram:

Hyderabad, Show Me Love

For the last 8 months I’ve been working on a project that I am really excited about. It all began around a year ago when I met with the owners of Daaram, a store in Hyderabad, and they expressed an interest in retailing my brand there. Daaram is run by Dastkar Andhra, a non-profit dedicated to promoting handloom fabric, and because of our common passion we immediately got along. Latha, one of the partners at Daaram, seemed really keen on working with me because she felt that I could give her team of designers ideas on what kinds of handloom fabrics would work well for contemporary silhouettes; in the long run that kind of input will help handloom weavers compete with powerloom and mill made fabric suppliers.

In the last 6 months, while working on my Summer and upcoming Monsoon collections, the design team at Dastkar Andhra has been really patient with changing colours, fabric construction and weaves to suit my tastes. I often place orders asking, “Can you make yardage with fabric construction from A, the colours from B but change the green lines to the blue shade from fabric C”. Luckily for me, they oblige me whenever they can (there are rare exceptions like when the weavers of Muramunda refuse to weave in anything but Kora).

So this Thursday, on July 9th, Brass Tacks will launch in Hyderabad at Daaram. I’m nervous about the response, excited to reach out to more people, but mostly thrilled to have this opportunity so early in my business.

Pushing Creative Boundaries

I recently wrote to a fashion critic asking for feedback and thoughts about my brand and my designs. I was pleasantly surprised to receive a reply within a couple of days, but it took a while for his feedback to sink in. He said that I needed to push myself and do something that is not just different, but completely revolutionary.

Not to get defensive, but when you make clothes that have semi mass-appeal, it's hard to be revolutionary. I came into this business for my love of textiles, so part of my goal is to work towards ordering larger volumes from weavers (so that they will be more receptive to working on quality and experimenting with different fabric constructions). To order larger volumes I have to make more garments, so even though my clothes are not as mass-market as a store in a mall, I do want the clothes to cater to a relatively large niche. My point is that when you try to make clothes that are not highly exclusive, it is difficult to be revolutionary. The fashion critic is trying to tell me, I think, that only if I do something revolutionary will I get noticed and create that buzz that gets many people talking about my store.

After my initial reaction ("Of course I am doing something revolutionary! Who else uses beautiful fabrics to make such well-cut clothes at affordable prices?") I realized that he did have a point. Unless someone were to really engage with the garments, feel the fabric, try them on to appreciate the fit and the feel of soft fabrics against skin, it is difficult to understand how special they are. It is true that many women walk into my store and ask me why the prices are so high for cotton clothing. Should I focus more on the visual aspect of my garments; make sure they are visually distinct in some way that is easily (and immediately) noticeable?

Still, I'm a bit confused. There have been styles that are less conventional like Kolam Kurta and Marsupium (pics below), but while Kolam Kurta flew off the shelves I noticed that Marsupium was bought mostly by women who live abroad. In my latest collection, Pastry Layers is my most unconventional style. It remains to be seen how much attention it attracts.

The challenge ahead of me is to be more unconventional (and perhaps revolutionary!) without forgetting my target customer. The first step in that direction is being creative at the fabric stage, so I need to choose my fabrics for future collections really carefully. Good timing, as I'm in the process of finalizing my Monsoon Collection fabrics this week.

Summer 2009: Weightlessness

Last week on May 1st, we had our photo-shoot for my summer 2009 collection. As I had mentioned in an earlier post, the theme I wanted to convey through the shoot was a feeling of weightlessness (lightness) that the garments in this collection have. Let me clarify right away lest there be any confusion, that this collection is not all about making women looking thin. The weightlessness is more a state of mind that you experience when you wear these clothes that help you feel light and cool during muggy, hot weather.

I’ve been thinking about this shoot for many months because there are so many images that are conceptually interesting for a theme like “weightlessness”. Unfortunately most of the ones I loved were impossible to execute. My favourite was an image of a model holding onto a creeper or a thin tree, with her legs off the ground and away from the tree- as if she is being blown away by the wind. The idea is she’s so light that she could get blown away if she wasn’t holding the creeper for support.

Okay, so maybe that was a bit complicated! Anyway, limited by logistics and my budget, I went in search of a trampoline and below are some of the shots my photographer took. I went to a shady film set rental place to get the trampoline, but in the end we couldn’t use it on the beach- the one near my parents’ house was too crowded (May 1st was a holiday) and the beach we finally went to was a 15 minute drive away but the trampoline didn’t fit in the car. The model offered to jump off a stool at the beach, so that's what we had her do (thank you, Mandira)! We used the trampoline for the one on the roof with the tree tops in the background, and just a fan for the “Pastry Layers” top with the panels blowing in the wind.

I can’t decide if the beach shots look better with the sand or without. Thoughts? I also wanted to find dandelions so that we could have them floating in the air alongside the model, but I didn’t have any luck with that.

On the beach:

On the rooftop, with raintrees just behind the model:

On the rooftop at 7pm:

Designing for Heat and Humidity

Summer is already here, and it’s hard to get work done in this heat. On most days I just want to sleep during the hottest hours, unless of course I’m sitting in an air conditioned room, mildly caffeinated, and listening to some good music (that’s Q-Tip’s Renaissance these days).

Unfortunately I can’t always have that. My summer collection is already a couple of weeks late and I have to spend time at the workshop everyday to make sure the styles get completed on time. Feeling energetic for the long drive to my production unit and looking presentable for work everyday has been a bit challenging in this heat, but it’s also made me think deeper into what kind of clothes I design for each collection.

For the first few collections, I consciously followed a particular colour story, and the fabric choice was obvious to me - summer would require cotton and thinner fabrics whereas winter would give me freedom to play with different silks. Sometime last year, I felt that my photo-shoots needed to be more effective in portraying the brand image, and that’s when the idea of having a theme for each collection evolved. At first the themes were more visual (for the creative shots) but then I started thinking about the themes in terms of how it would affect the total “look” of the collection, and how to connect each style to the theme in some way.

For this summer collection (that will hopefully be in the store by early May), I’ve explored the idea of “light” clothes. Not just literally light, in terms of weight, but also clothes that make you feel light – either because of the colour or certain design elements. Summer in Chennai is so hot, but what really gets to people is the heavy, humid air. The effect of a cool shower is lost within an hour if you go outside because the humidity and the pollution leave you feeling sticky and heavy very quickly. The upcoming collection has styles that will hopefully give the wearer a buoyancy of sorts to deal with the muggy days to come. Plus, a little bit of style helps put you in that positive (and light!) frame of mind you need to deal with the heat.

I do have to keep my brand and my target customer in mind, so I can’t go too crazy with the theme (or rather, I have to think of creative ways to interpret the theme but still retain the Brass Tacks look). It would be a different story if I had a runway collection that was inspired by the theme and then a ready-to-wear line that was….well, also inspired by the theme but more wearable. Still, I’ve tried to work on different sewing techniques, I’ve incorporated “light” trims, and some garments have an intentionally unfinished look (e.g. darts stitched on the outside or raw edges at the seams) because to me that is lighter than a completely tailored and fitted look.

The collection will be up on the site in a few weeks but for now here are some of the swatches I will use:

What’s In and What’s Out

I’ve always wondered how people decide what is officially going to be trendy for the next few years. It’s called fashion trend forecasting and I’m guessing it’s done by experts in the fashion and fashion-history field. I remember a few years ago I was so blown away when I learned about the colour forecasting group: a group of people who decide/predict which colours will be in trend two or three years down the line for the global retail industry. Large retailers follow their advice because they work on their production a year before it hits the stores.

Once I started Brass Tacks I found out that at a more local level, trends are told by the media from their interviews with designers and retailers. I am often asked what the current trends are- a somewhat hilarious question considering I pay no attention whatsoever to “trends” in fashion while designing my collection. I firmly believe that people should wear what they like and what they feel comfortable wearing. Everyone’s taste is a function of their environment while growing up, so it would be ridiculous to suggest that someone who grew up in a small town with a modest household income should gradually aspire to wear something more “trendy”- like harem pants for example.

What shocked me recently, is that fashion magazines have started a section within their magazine on “beauty”. They mean “trends in cosmetics and the how-to of grooming”, but they call it beauty. The beauty section tells you what’s in and what’s not (sorry South Asians with thick eyebrows and big hips, you are not “in” this year) and how to change yourself if you are not in. I guess cosmetic companies and make-up artists call the shots on beauty, and just like with fashion, what gets my goat is the lack of cultural understanding. Or in the case of make-up, no regard whatsoever for difference in racial features (“black glossy lips give power to your pout” – but do they really if you are brown?)

And finally, here is my confession and dilemma: as a small company with practically no budget for advertising, I need every kind of publicity I can get. So if a journalist calls me to ask what the latest trends are, or what I think the Indian fashion scene is lacking, I try to answer the question to the best of ability even though I’m no authority. So in my own small way, I could be accused of contributing towards the message the media sends out about fashion and beauty. Maybe it serves me right that my hair dresser asked me if I want to thread my eyebrows, for my wedding at least.

Selling Brass Tacks

After two years and six collections, I finally feel that I’m beginning to find my voice in my designs for Brass Tacks. I think my initial hesitation had a lot to do with being new to the field, unsure of what people in Chennai would wear, and most importantly, not too experimental with my own style of dressing. That range of conservative to adventurous (but not in a Brass Tacks way) was reflected in my previous collections. I’ve now figured that my strongest inspiration will always come from traditional textiles and the stories and history behind them. My second strongest influence comes from the empowered feeling I want the women wearing Brass Tacks to experience.

Now that I have more focused direction with the design aspect of my work, I’m trying to find the right marketing path that is in harmony with the brand image. In my press kits I try my best to articulate what it is that I am trying to do, but since press write ups are not paid for, I don’t have a say in what is printed. Some papers and magazines did write a short story on my company around the time I opened my store, but since then I’ve only managed to get small announcements when I have a new collection in the store. Word of mouth is strong but slow, and regular streams of advertising are expensive. I’ve given a lot of thought to participating in one of the fashion weeks that are held in India, but I fear that my down-to-earth natural fabrics and simple styles will stick out next to the glamorous, highly embellished garments that are usually showcased on the runway by other designers. Then again, GAP did participate in New York fashion week, so I could be wrong.

I’m working towards retailing at a store in Hyderabad from April onwards (more details once the collection is ready) and hopefully I will have an exhibition in Bangalore in July. I hope that reaching out to Brass Tacks women in other cities will act as a catalyst to the word-of-mouth marketing that my customers help with. In the meantime, I need to come up with something stronger; a clever campaign that celebrates women’s curves instead of trying to hide them, demonstrates how natural fabrics are luxurious, and shows how contemporary clothing can be stylish, well-cut, and fashionable even though they are made from ancient craft techniques.

Living and Learning

After a month of hurdles, I finally launched my Monsoon collection last week. The labour related issues, which I have written about in an earlier post, are common to the industry but just harder to deal with in a small scale business. What I hadn’t anticipated was how long it would take to work with my website developers on a new look for the site.

I wanted my website revamped because the first website was done in a hurry and many details were either overlooked or done in a shortsighted manner. The website developer I was working with had a full time job in Mumbai, so all our communication was either over email or over the phone late at night. When I figured that his design sense didn’t quite match mine, and that we were running out of time, I decided to do all the design myself and have him do the HTML programming. With my amateur Photoshop skills I created images of what I wanted every page to look like, and with his HTML skills (also amateur) he converted them to actual web pages. Granted, at the time I was desperate to get the job done and I didn’t search hard enough for someone who could have done the job better, but I ended up with a website that required a ton of work each time a new collection had to be uploaded (my kind and hardworking fiancé took care of these every time).

Things were so bad with the first round of programming (the programmer had actually uploaded the text parts of the website as images so they couldn’t be edited at all) that I ended up asking around for another developer just to re-do the programming that the first guy had done. Crazy, but true.

The second guy was from Bangalore and was referred to me by a friend of a friend. He was efficient and his turnaround time was incredibly fast. My fiancé and I were really happy with his work and he came across as very professional and responsible.

So, a few months ago when I was thinking about getting my website revamped for a more sophisticated and polished look, I naturally thought of the developer in Bangalore. The developer had a design partner and together they were to take on the job of giving my website a facelift in keeping with my brand image. Despite my attempts to get started on the job early however, I ended up with the same problem: I felt my design sensibilities were not understood. This forced me to come up with a lot of visuals using Photoshop, just like I had to the first time around. The one good thing that came out of the process of sending images, exchanging feedback and listening to the developers’ arguments for their designs is that it forced me to think outside my creative box. After all, I didn’t want to end up with a site that looked exactly like the old one in every way.

The result is a new website with a more polished look and a lot more interactivity than the old one. The downside is that uploading and updating new collections will still be tough (fortunately my fiancé is good with programming). I hope people will stay on the site for longer, read about the textile crafts in the leaning centre, and send me their feedback. The next time around, I’ll be sure to do my homework, take a look at all the websites the designers have done for other clients, and work well in advance. I also have to remember that as long as I have a strong opinion on something, I have to be prepared for heavy involvement, even if it means working out detailed layouts in Photoshop everyday just to communicate my ideas.

Below are screenshots of the old and new home page.

Discovering our clothes

I started this blog because one of my goals for Brass Tacks was to provide more information about textile crafts and the artisans who produce them. Every time I sit down to write a post however, I have so much to share about my work and some of the problems I face with production and sales that the information about the textile crafts and craftsmen are not as accessible as I’d like it to be.

I recently stumbled upon a site that explained beautifully and concisely the process of mud block printing in Mali (West Africa). This site was particularly memorable for its interactive learning tool that allows you to make your own mud cloth. Following (and doing) each step helps you learn the different processes involved and also cultivate an appreciation for the painstaking methods.

For me the learning tool was special because it shows you how connected the bogolanfini technique is to nature (the name in Bambara means "earthcloth") and how quality was not compromised even though it meant additional work. I sometimes wonder if people would have a greater appreciation for traditional textile crafts if they knew how much work and how much precision it involves. Perhaps it is just a question of taste (i.e. do people like how the end product looks or not), but I do know that when I am intrigued by a story surrounding a craft, then I want to know more about it and that knowledge then inspires in me a fascination for the craft technique as well as the end product.

I was thinking that maybe I should have an encyclopedia of some sort with text, pictures and interactive steps to demonstrate the history and technique of some of the textile crafts I use regularly. I know that the Craft Revival Trust already has a directory of crafts with a write-up, pictures and a list of craftsmen, but the text can sometimes be quite long and detailed for someone who wants to quickly get an overview of the process. Not to overlook the work that Craft Revival Trust has done though- their website is a terrific resource for anyone who wants to learn more about Indian textile crafts. I just think having that information on my site will help people connect the crafts to the garments, and in doing that it will hopefully generate more interest and pride in the crafts, the process, and the craftsmen.

Here is a link to the site that has inspired me to have interactive learning tools on my site:
Make your own Bogolanfini! http://www.mnh.si.edu/africanvoices/mudcloth/index_flash.html