Sometimes the journey is the destination,” Kiran Uttam Ghosh says in a rare poetic moment. “I am a firm believer of the fact that it is not about where you are, but rather, what you are. There are no cemented centres of excellence; just people who have competence. The saying that success is based on geography is now history.”

Even a decade back, a designer from outside the holy fashion circle of Delhi and Mumbai – the then Meccas and still the major hubs – was not taken seriously on a national scale. Kolkata had, for long, been the beholder of culture, tradition, craft and beautiful textile, but not glamorous runway moments. The likes of Ritu Kumar and Aki Narula began their careers in this city, but soon moved to the ‘main’ metros due to the better infrastructure and opportunities. It was not until the early parts of the new millennium that a set of creators from the cultural capital brought the spotlight on Kolkata. Uttam Ghosh is part of that pioneering set.

A long time has passed; Uttam Ghosh is now a seasoned veteran, and still a proud torchbearer of her Bengal heritage. “As I reach the 15th year of my label, I realise more and more how much my part of the world – its craftsmen and surroundings – have shaped my work,” she muses. Over the past few months, she has held retrospective exhibitions at cities across the country, attended by KUG loyals and sharers of her design evolution.

Surely, there have been many moments of reminiscing about the beginning and the long road? It started with an internship at Jasper Conran in London, during the early ’90s. “I rolled thousands of yards of fabrics and learned to pronounce the names of French dishes that I had to order for lunch, as the office trainee. I’d write them down in Hindi,” she smiles at the memory. “My roommate was Japanese. I guess my love for all things Oriental began from there.”

The fascination for the Far East resulted in Uttam Ghosh naming her prêt label Kimono, but it was soon absorbed into her main couture and high-end ready-to-wear line under her own name. She became noted for her exquisitely embellished trousseaus, which she calls “bread and butter”. But she did not want to be buried under a zardozi avalanche and the lure of the runway was strong. She presented a 1920s flapper-inspired range at the Lakmé India Fashion Week in 2005 and was immediately noticed for the unique blend of textures on modern, fuss-free garments. “I’d like to think of my design as intelligent, emotive and deep, with a sense of humour, aiming to delight the mind of the customer,” she tells us. “It is detailed to the minutest degree possible, paying allegiance to the control freak in me.”

This self-depreciative humour is an endearing trait of Uttam Ghosh, and those who know her are infected. She has the ability to honestly admit shortcomings and learn from them. “There was a line I did, called India Shining. I remember it was presented just before the election debacle. It was loud, bright and in your face. Even though it sold in huge quantum – at absurdly high prices – I felt that I was selling my soul to commerce.”

This brought about a change in her sensibility. The love for orientalism remained, but the colours and embroideries sobered down. Her own personality started to come through as a key element of her collections henceforth. “I often step out of work in the day with print stains on my T-shirt, tape measure around my neck, pens stuck into my hair, dye stains on my fingers, and when, by chance, I come across a mirror, I realise I am looking like a freak!” she describes, omitting the mention of her ‘accessories’– an overflowing filofax stuffed with extra papers, filled with tiny indecipherable scribbles, and an ex-battered communicator, which has been recently replaced with something new. But the dishevelled twin is not unveiled otherwise, as Uttam Ghosh knows (naturally), the importance of being super chic. This dual, contrasting character of her personal dressing process has fed her designs, and over the years, KUG has established a unique brand aesthetic of nonchalant, yet glamorous, style. “Clothes don’t count without confidence – it’s a package. When a woman feels secure she can light up a room. That’s sexy!”

In 2006, Uttam Ghosh was invited to participate at the Alta Roma Fashion Week in Italy which hallmarked her new signature – more layered in terms of pieces, somewhat careless, subtly but intricately textured, tickling colour combinations, blending masculinity with an overall feminine feel. “A favourite collection, creatively, is 2007’s Ethellectic, inspired by Big Ethel, the somewhat clumsy Archies comics’ character. It was about the not-so-perfect little girl in each one of us,” she says. It was another successful stepping stone into the national limelight, followed by her 2008 and 2009 lines, which firmly established her as a creative force to reckon with. The KUG style has mastered its mix of randomness, fluidity, asymmetry, quirk and subtle sexiness. Her retrospective show, held in Kolkata (September 2009), brought together old favourites onto the runway, alongside her Spring Summer 2010 line, which revisited a past collection but reinterpreted it, fondly called ‘Flapper goes to the Orient’, bringing together two big loves – vintage and Japanese sensibilities.

Like many, she is spoilt for choice with invitations from the plethora of fashion weeks that have been taking place in every Indian metro. What is her observation about this mushrooming? “Just too many of them. Abundance makes for obsolescence,” is the short and simple remark. But the bright side of these is the emerging of a new talented breed, and Uttam Ghosh is full of encouragement for her favourites – “Atsu, CellDSGN, Kallol Datta, Anuj Sharma, Nachiket Barve….” She is not just about words, but also action, and has regularly sported their creations. Of course, the best occasions are left for “the classic KUG pieces that I shall keep for life. I usually steal the quirkiest ones from every line – sometimes at toile stage, hot off the machine. I pick favourites and live in them. Right now it’s the cowl caftan.” Perfect with scarlet heeled Louboutins and a generous spritz of Narciso Rodriguez’s fragrance – “I am hooked. It’s been five years.”

Coming back to the 15 years bit, does she feel a sense of accomplishment? “Left to my own devices, I love nothing more than to dig through the world’s decay and decadence, hang out with my karigars and highbrows alike, listen and learn,” she says. “I live design.” But what happens when other people live design too, particularly hers? She grins. “Years of experience have taught me one thing. It’s when they’re not copying you that you have to start worrying.”
No need to slather on the anti-worry lines cream just yet, KUG.

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