Fashion Speak
INDO WESTERN LOOKS
Catering to the sartorial needs of the modern
Indian woman, most clothes stitched are Indowestern
in nature with tunics being favoured
more. Sarees are a regular part of the collections
and are custom - made. “People love our
conversational sarees. They like their sarees to
speak about something. So we custom make a
lot of them. This is also the reason we stopped
doing collections and started calling them clothes.
So every season we add a few new styles to our
look book, which is called ROUKA TIMELESS.
About two to three sets of products get added
every year.” Besides Shibori, Shreejith uses resist
dyeing techniques like batik and ombré dyeing to
create engineered pieces for his collection as well.
He also makes clever use of Arashi, Nui
and Itajime and Shibori to add to the charm
of his creations.
RETAILING, PRICES, EMBELLISHMENTS
Retailing for the Rouka label is through its
ecommerce site www.shoprouka.com and
through its store in Kochi. “We also showcase
our clothes through multi - brand stores across
the country.”
Prices for everyday pieces start from R3,000
upwards, while the signature pieces can go up to
Rs 25,000. Sreejith loves using silks, hand woven
cotton, natural dyed crepe, linen and cotton linen.
From inspiration to rack it takes about two weeks
for a collection to be ready, though at times
creations have taken four months too.
Sreejith’s favoured colour story is black and
white, besides natural dyeing hues of indigo,
madder red and ivory. He also likes to experiment
with seasonal shades like blush and yellow
for spring.
“We normally stay away from embellishments
but use embroidery to add quirk. We have also
created this range of garments that use fabric
excess to create textures and surface decor. I feel
carefully placed embellishments and motifs add a
lot of meaning and fun to the story-telling we do
through clothes.”
44 I APPAREL I August 2020