We are at the time when being presentable at every point of time is a norm. Designer wears have made their way to the wardrobe of common man than just being limited to elites. India is not far behind in making new trends in global fashion industry. While most of the renowned Indian designers are known for taking Indian ethnic wear fashion to the global platform, Goa-based fashion Designer Karishma Mehta adopted just opposite by brining global fashion trends for Indian fashion enthusiasts. Under her label Thiana Karishma curates some of the finest western wear designs including the catholic wedding gowns, cocktail gowns and western party wear collection. Her collections are all about ready-to-wear, environment friendly and affordable western wears. One can clearly see the global appeal in her collection of western wear.
Karishma has been running her label Thiana successfully for the last 7 years in Goa, an Indian holiday destination popular large catholic population, with beautiful beaches and high-end party life. A fashion designer graduate from Stanodec institute of professional studies Karishma started Thiana to cater to the relatively lesser served segment by Indian fashion designers, that is catholic bridal wear and wedding wear segment. She says 'Indian traditional wedding wear segment is already crowded and dominated by many designers though very few of them cater to catholic weddings so I though why not start in a segment that lacks attention in Indian fashion galleries."
Karishma's first participation in international fashion week was in Bay 15 resort Goa where she presented her collection 'Expressions'. In her next collection 'Serene' she presented beautiful catholic bridal wear inspired by the thoughts of bride. The collection included themed catholic bridal and wedding wear. She has also presenter her collection in Goa Tourism Department's even 'Grape escapade' which was the collection of partywear and cocktail gowns. She believes that Indian garments though appreciated worldwide but still have limited reach to India or Indian audiences globally in terms of wearability. To truly compete at global fashion trends, we also need to design apparels that look wearable to the audiences beyond geographical boundaries. One of her collections was also telecasted on FTV's international channel which is known to cover renowned or upcoming faces in global fashion arena.
After few years of designing apparel from all kinds of fabrics and material Karishma has recently shifted to using environment friendly fabric and material for her designs. She believes that it is better late than never. She now uses fabric like Modal, Tencel, rayon, Bamberg and dyes and thread that are made with skin friendly material. Her designs include beautiful embroidery, floral patterns and modern cuts. With her designs she wants to send the message that fashion does not need to harm environment, both can co-exist safely. She says "Designers and labels at all level are realizing the importance of sustainable fashion that does no or very little harm to the planet. Small efforts may result in big changes."
Karishma is born and raised in Delhi and has shifted to Goa post marriage. She is a commerce graduate and had utilized her skills in supporting her husband's business for few years, but she later completed 2 years diploma course in fashion designing and directly launched her label Thiana after completing the course. She says "I already had some idea of managing and executing the business which helped in launching my own label just after completion of course."
About the writer: "Anshul Panda is a writer who specializes in writing fashion, lifestyle, and women centric content. She has been covering these domains for previous 5 years where she has covered the work of many designers models and entrepreneurs during her professional endeavor".
