Anokhi Fashion Lifestyle Entertaiment

Poonam Bhagat is an avid traveller. It’s from her wide array of travels that she derives inspiration for many of her designs. “It’s from my travels around the world where I imbibe, on a subliminal level, the culture, arts and crafts of the country. Tribal arts have a large influence on me. I have a fascination for Panamanian, Mexican, African and Aboriginal art.”

Poonam first began designing clothes in 1991, following a friend’s suggestion to have an exhibition at her home. A series of successful exhibitions soon translated into the birth of Taika, Poonam’s label. Today, Taika is among some of the most well-known labels in India, carrying clothes that are western, wholly Indian, and sometimes a medley of both.

The word Taika means “magic” in Finnish, which came to her from a book on Finland. Poonam’s designs without a doubt embody this word. The ethereal, whimsical quality of her work emanates from the imaginative colour palette right down to the very fabric. Take, for example, her Autumn/Winter 2008 collection, which was showcased at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WLIFW) in March. Using earthy tones that she creatively identifies as jute recital, mosaic mischief, shell song, shoowa magic, and creepers & vines, she combined them with the essentials, black and ivory. “I enjoy giving my colours and collections exotic names! The power of imagery!”

It takes a certain kind of woman to wear Taika. “A confident, self-assured and elegant woman who has a mind of her own and a personality that does not get drowned by her attire.” says Poonam.

Poonam’s work fits perfectly alongside the eco-friendly clothing that is dominant in the fashion industry at the moment. But Poonam was working with eco-friendly fabrics long before it became a global trend, right from the beginning of her fashion career. “For over 17 years, I have been zealously using handloom fabrics that breathe. No man-made fibres and no polyesters please. India is a veritable treasure trove of fabrics—tussar, khadi and matka silks, voiles and chanderis. They come to me directly from the weavers in central India.”

Currently, Poonam is carrying out orders that were secured during WLIFW Autumn/Winter 2008. She’s also working on a collection called “The Silk Route,” which encompasses “Indian kurtas in ivory voiles, chanderis with empire lines, and voluminous skirts with brightly appliquéd silk patterns of Central Asia.” And if she wasn’t busy enough already, she will soon begin working on the Spring/Summer 2009 collection.

Bhagat does not have over-zealous ambitions of taking over the globe nor does she desire to establish a ubiquitous presence in the industry. Rather, her ultimate goal is simple and understated, much like her designs: “As long as discerning women continue to buy my clothes and send me feedback on how wonderful they felt or looked in them, my goal is achieved.”

BY: MISHAL CAZMI/PUBLISHED: SUMMER 2008 ISSUE
(PHOTOS COURTESY OF ASHISH CHAWLA)