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(full print copy from The Yak - adapted for web reading) It was Paul's comment of how I sell to the Planet without moving" that caught my attention... I was interested in what this Seminyak-based designer could tell me about his distinctive style and how he has it made. Would I be able to glean any tips from his business acumen? I hoped so, even though I am far removed from the fashion and garment industry. I decided to pay him a visit and this is what I learnt... Q. How old were you when you first heard of the island of Bali? A. I was twenty-five. Q. Where were you? A. I was in New York. Q. Who told you about Bali? A. Ibu Soehario, Setiawan Djodi's mother-in-law. Q. What was it that about what you heard that made you come and visit? A. Ibu Soehario, the Indonesian Ambassador for Handicrafts, told me of their carving expertise. I was looking to create some artsy-fartsy pipes from ebony and rosewood. Q. Did you explore any other career avenues before answering your calling in fashion? A. I controlled 32% of the cigarette papers sold on the planet! Q. How long have you been in the garment industry? A. Since 1976. Q. Who and what influenced you? A. I was in India as a tourist and I had run out of money. Other tourists liked what I was wearing, clothes that I had made myself, so it kind of started there. Q. Was it a challenge for a family/straight man to be recognized in the fashion industry? A. (He laughs) What, is the rumor out there that I am straight? In the world I live in people are judged on their abilities and not on their genitalia or sexual preferences! Q. How has the industry evolved since then? A. For me personally, it was a question of moving from survival mode to responsibility. I started my business by buying knit fabric in Bombay (Mumbai), tie-dying it in Rajasthan, taking it back to my home in Goa and making and selling the T-shirts at $25 a pop in 1976. Q. What has been your part in the fashion evolution? A. I am not in fashion per se; I am in "artsy fartsy". I am in "ooh and ahh". What I do is make people go "ooh, ahh"; I design sensual not sexual, for people who would rather go naked! Q. Would you say that your style spans time? A. Yes. I started the Chinese Tibetan T shirt Company producing the most elaborate, intricate and labour intensive T-shirts at that time, 23 screens per T shirt using different Buddhist deities and symbols. These T-shirts are now in Museums across the globe. Q. Have you changed your style drastically since the start or has there been a gradual shift to blend your taste with the needs of the industry? A. I got lost for about a decade. I was producing fashion, jewelry accessories and home furnishings for top department stores like Miss Selfridge and Harrods. I found my collections got watered down in order to fit their low budget, so much so that I no longer recognized my own designs. So, after fulfilling all my orders that year I told buyers that I was going fishing, and did so - for four years! After the four years my financial controller recommended I go back to work. Q. What is it about your fashion that attracts? A. The colours, the textures and the details. I provoke people; it is difficult not to respond, one way or the other. There is an instant recognition to my style, and it has been my most important commercial accomplishment. The Yak |
