Fashion Speak
Sreejith Jeevan born and raised in Kochi has
parents who were lawyers by profession but
never practised. His sister is a software engineer.
Textiles have been his passion every since he
graduated from the National Institute of Design,
Ahmedabad in 2009. He is also the alumni of
Ecole Nationale Superieuere Des Arts Decoratifs,
Paris. His experiences and knowledge have been
further honed when working with designer Rajesh
Pratap Singh, who runs a home furnishing export
house in Karur. Sreejith has also created block
prints for Soma Jaipur, worked with IKEA and
taught at the National Institute of Design.
FIRST COLLECTION
It was in 2013 that the idea to start his brand
Rouka (Malayalam word for bodice) was born. It
has a strong creative fabric base that moves from
weaver to wearer. A rainy day in Kochi inspired his
first collection called ‘Weather Forecast’, which he
showcased at the Lakmé Fashion Week Summer/
Resort 2014 Gen Next show. The collection
created quite an impact on the ramp with
fashion connoisseurs.
“I started working on my first collection in
the month of July. This is typically a rainy and
stormy time in tropical Kerala. It was at this time
that I was travelling in a train across the state,
observing different weaving clusters and fabrics.
This is how ‘Weather Forecast’ came into being.
This was an extremely wearable collection that
used handloom fabrics and had an element of
quirk. Everyone loved this whimsical vibe this
collection brought to the ramp. The idea that
handlooms don’t have to be boring was also
celebrated. We showcased the clothes on
models who walked with umbrellas as props.
People still call me the pitter-patter boy because
of the fun factor that it brought to the Gen Next
show. It was a lot like Kerala - laidback, modern
and fun,” remembers Sreejith.
42 I APPAREL I August 2020