Bollywed's sisters-in-law craft new line of party clothes blending South Asian and Western fashion
‘Why can’t we have something that looks super rich and beautiful – but we feel extremely comfortable in?'
Helping run Chandan Fashion, the iconic bridal shop in Toronto's Little India operated by the Singh family that she was married into, Roop has made hundreds of brides' wedding dreams come true. So when a bride-to-be was going through the details of her destination wedding in Santorini as she was trying on a lehenga-choli, and outlined her plans for a pool plunge with her bridesmaids, Roop was both excited and worried.
"She was wearing this stunning blouse, and she had the long skirt on – because you know our traditional lehenga skirts have such a wide circumference at the base. And I got to thinking, how safe is this, really? All this fabric is going to be floating and maybe suffocating her," recalls Roop, during a recent interview.
"On the spot I was like, 'Hey. You're in Santorini. You're jumping in a pool. So what if we give you this exact same look but we redesign it to be a mini [skirt]?' The bride and her girlfriends went crazy for the idea. I felt a lot more comfortable with her jumping into a pool with a mini skirt. I'm still waiting on the footage. I really want to see how that turned out."
This brainstorm was one of many that Roop and her sister-in-law Chandni, whose parents opened Chandan Fashion in 1984 on Toronto's Gerrard Street, have been coming up with over the past three years, as they have gotten more involved with the store. As two young women who were born in Toronto but raised in very traditional South Asian households, they've been looking for ways to marry the two cultures.
"The fashion line is something that was always in the works. It's something Chandni and I have spoken about endlessly," says Roop. Given their connections to a range of suppliers across India, the duo were keen to send orders for their original designs. Still, they were busy helping run the full-time family business, as well as shooting three-to-four days a week for the CBC docu-series Bollywed, now in its second season.
An emerging clientele interested in rethinking traditional attire has inspired Roop and Chandni not to sleep on their own dreams. Together they have created Chandan Couture, a line of South Asian bridal wear that will be available off-the-rack at the family's landmark store close to Toronto's Leslieville neighbourhood, as well as their second location in Brampton called Chandan Heritage. As is the case with their traditional outfits, clients can come in and choose one of their original designs or have it customized for a bespoke look.
Although neither of them studied fashion, they grew up keeping tabs on Indian fashion through Bollywood movies and Indian film awards shows, says Roop. More recently, they've been following famous Indian designers such as Manish Malhotra, Sabyasachi and Krésha Bajaj.
The key element for this design duo is comfort.
Take, for example, the dupatta: a long stole-like fabric that's either draped over the shoulders or worn over the head. While the garment looks aesthetically beautiful, aside from fulfilling modesty or religious requirements, it can be cumbersome – especially when it comes to hitting the dance floor.
"I would just ditch the dupatta," says Roop, laughing, recounting attending weddings or festive occasions as a young girl dressed in Indian party wear, and constantly tripping over the length of fabric.
When it came to designing another miniskirt ensemble then, inspired by the success of the impromptu pool plunge outfit, the dupatta got paired up with one of the sisters-in-law's wardrobe staples: the oversized blazer.
"We created a very chic, a very couture, very glamorous mini skirt with a matching blazer with a power shoulder. And the dupatta is attached to the blazer," Roop explains.
"So if you really want to get on the dance floor and have a good time, you can," she adds.
Although their vendors in India had sent some fusion fashion samples over the years, they didn't reflect the mix of cultures that diasporic South Asians grew up with. The designs were either too South Asian or the silhouettes just didn't sit right, says Roop.
"Like, the oversized blazer is really hot this season, and it's something Chandni and I have worn since I can't even remember when," she says. "How do you fuse that with South Asian embroidery? Why can't we have something that looks super rich and beautiful but we feel extremely comfortable in?"
It's not just about the feel of the fabric either. Take the example of brides-to-be Veronica and Jenna. The couple did not want to look like two traditional brides for their destination wedding — although they still wanted a bridal look. Moreover, Veronica, a professional soccer coach, was extremely uncomfortable wearing skirts.
"She loved this stunning lehenga, but she said, 'I am not really feeling at home.' I suggested that we take out the skirt and change it into a pair of bell-bottom pants with a side slit. The dupatta became a belt," says Roop.
Watch | Jenna tries on her new custom made pantsuit
Similarly, Jenna wanted to wear something like a sherwani (a long-sleeved, knee-length structured coat worn by men, which can be plain or embellished) but did not want it to look too masculine. Roop suggested taking a readymade sherwani, cropping it short and designing pants to make it look like a chic pants-suit.
This experience inspired Roop and Chandni to design an embellished oversized pantsuit to be worn with a traditional blouse, as well as an all-black cropped sherwani and pants ensemble for their signature designs.
While the parents Kuki and Sarab gave Roop and Chandni a lot of creative license, their venture also needed to make financial sense. Trying to design something outside the wedding trousseau box wasn't going to be a mass-market affair.
"It's really for a niche set of clients," says Roop. "Like, how many clients do we have coming in to ask for a crop top and a mini skirt? Not many. But it's still not zero. And some people don't ask for it because they don't even know that it's a possibility."
"The other thing we had to consider was budgeting. Because these are unique pieces, we have to make sure we're not investing so much money into these garments that we would feel the pinch if we don't sell them quickly enough."
Watch | Roop and Chandni unveil prototypes from their new line
Besides bridal outfits, Roop and Chandni have also designed dresses for less formal occasions such as a tea party, cocktail evenings and other red carpet events. The midi style, three-quarter length dresses fashioned from fabrics with traditional Indian embroidery offer style with comfort and confidence. Roop wore one of her own designs for CBC's annual Sounds of the Season showcase.
"I don't know if you've worn a lehenga recently but they have so much cancan fabric underneath to give you that beautiful A-line. Have you ever tried driving in that? It's not easy. I remember I had to wear one not long ago. I had to drive myself to an event and back — and the cancan was coming up to my elbows. I could barely steer the car," says Roop, laughing.
"It was nice that I could wear one of my own pieces [for the CBC event] that can hold their own on the red carpet. And I drove very comfortably that day."
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