It was difficult getting Aki on the phone as I picked the middle of fashion week fittings to talk to him. He kept messaging me “Give me 20 minutes!” every half-an-hour. Aki is styling 14 shows for the Lakme Fashion Week.
“It is exciting styling a show, because you see the work of the designer that he has lived with for the last two months and then I view it with my eyes, giving my inputs after reviewing it,” said Aki Narula, while talking to me between fittings.
Last fashion week, I went to the Generation Next Show, which was styled by Aki. This show is an introduction for brand new designers, when they first debut on the catwalk. They are fresh from design school and bursting with ideas and not yet jaded by influencing factors like design and marketing. “I become a mentor, a guru as such, to them,” said Aki. “We literally live with them, understanding their inspiration and guiding them. It’s like giving birth to babies,” he said, full of emotion. He continues to style this show again in the current season.
I saw Aki’s first show in 1997 with Melange, when he showed his quirky collection on the ramp. It was kitsch, do-it-yourself street fashion and mad fun. He made a massive impact and I knew he would be big.
A reminiscing Aki said, “I left home to start life with `2,500. Sangita and Melange sold out my collection and wanted more. However, the order being on a consignment basis, I had to wait till the end of the month to get money to start on a new collection. At the time, there were no mentors, no fashion weeks. We had to find out where we should go to source leggings or how to alter clothes in emergencies,” the designer recalled.
“How does a quirky designer like you get accepted by Bollywood?” I asked him. He replied, “The filmmakers who asked me did not expect me to toe the line at all. They wanted me to think out of the box.”
“Shaad called me out of the blue and asked me to design for the famous Kajra Re song in Bunty Aur Babli,” Aki said, adding, “By the grace of God, I got Bluff Master, Don and Jhoom Barabar Jhoom back to back.”
Talking about the difference between fashion on the ramp and that on celluloid, Aki shrugged, “When you’re doing your collection for retail, you are the boss. But, in the movies, a lot depends on the script and the director’s vision.”
Ironically, the hugely talented designer has had no formal training in design. “I dabbled in advertising and sometimes, I regret that I did not start earlier,” he said.
Despite being one of the most successful designers, Aki remains grounded, with none of the airs associated with this industry. “The credit goes to my father. I lost my mother when I was in college. He brought me up with middle class values, saving for my education and trips. I appreciated every little bit I had,” he said.
When he made the short pathanis with kitsch patialas for Bunty Aur Babli, Tina Tahiliani ordered them for Ensemble! Kudos to Aki for convincing the people who deal with him about his quirky and sometimes bizarre sense of fashion without having to break the rules.
“Peace of mind allows me to continue being inspired,” said Aki. “The only way forward is to sleep with a smile and a clear conscience, and to think with your heart.”