It is the magic words that Ms. Shalini James, the owner and lead designer of the women’s wear brand Mantra, swears by. She was the first designer from Kerala to present her collection at the prestigious Amazon India Fashion week in New Delhi. Her label, ‘SHALINI JAMES’ is an exotic potpourri of all things Indian; in silhouettes that are sometimes ethnic, sometimes contemporary, and mostly a unique mix of both. Her signature line, ‘Indian by choice’, espouses her design philosophy.
A graduate in English Literature, Ms. Shalini James is also a graduate of the National Institute of FashionTechnology where she won the Best Constructed Design award for her final collection. Subsequently, she did an executive programme in business management from IIM Calcutta. Her love for fashion and a burning desire to make a change in the fashion scenario in Kerala prompted her to start Mantra, a design house and apparel brand dedicated to the traditional textilesand textile crafts of India. Mantra retails from stores in Lulu Mall, Kochi and HiLite mall, Calicut and their onlinestore shalinijamesmantra.com. The label retails out of several leading multi designer outlets in all the major cities in India.
Ms. Shalini James was awarded the ‘Woman Entrepreneur of the Year 2015’ by TiE Kerala, the Kerala chapter of TiE Global, ‘SME Excellence award, 2017’ by Destination Kerala, South Indian Fashion Award (SIFA) 2017 and the ‘Jwala Woman Entrepreneur Award 2017’ by Kairali- People TV.
In December 2002, after a particularly intense eureka moment, Ms. James founded a company in the living room of a house in Kochi and named it Shalini James’ Mantra. It is a firm that designs, manufactures and sells clothes that appeal to Shalini. That they appeal to a whole lot of other women too may be incidental, but it turned out to be fortunate for her.
Mantra is a design house that believes that contemporary design can be culled out of the Indian textile heritage. It creates ethnic wear that appeals to the modern, cosmopolitan woman. To adapt to lifestyle changes, Indian women need wardrobe solutions to suit their multiple social roles and needs. The ethnic wear industry at the turn of the century was a loosely organised setup, fumbling with consistent delivery in sizing, styling, and quality. There was a vacant niche for apparel for discerning customers who had a deep appreciation of Indian textiles but also wanted the advantages of a western wear brand – standardised sizing, seasonal styles and impeccable quality, according to Ms. James.
In 2004, Mantra, with the intention of bridging this gap, launched ethnic prêt; ready-to wear in its classical form with six point sizing, consistent fits, contemporary styling and great quality. By applying anthropometric sizing techniques, western design methodology and pattern making tools to traditional Indian textiles, Mantra offers a product that has the best of both worlds.
In 2020, Ms. James has come out with a new range, ‘CHITRAKOOT – The Enchanted Forest.’ Chitrakoot, a forested hill in Madhya Pradesh is often called a hill of wonders. Fabled to hold a blue, illuminated lake in its caverns, accessible only to the truly pure of heart, Chitrakoot, with its thick, dark woods, narrow ridges and gurgling streams has for long been the perfect sylvan setting for many a legend and lore that set childhood dreams afire.
According to the designer, the collection, Chitrakoot, is inspired by this ancient forest, and is closer to nature in more ways than meet the eye. Its fabric is the eco-friendly LIVA, made from wood sourced from FSC certified forests. Its inherent fluidity and high receptiveness to colour makes it ideal for a palette of dark, mysterious forest colours in natural dyes, like bark brown, berry red, acai green and a sultry indigo – so reminiscent of the River Mandakini snaking through the forest on a moonlit night.
In this collection, the resist-dyeing and block-printing techniques of Bagru, in Rajasthan, come to life with new innovations and design inputs. Chitrakoot brings together a sensuous interplay of deep forest hues, a wild mating of foliage prints, and the lush texture of LIVA for Lotus makeup India Fashion Week A/W 19.
