Fashion First Timers

Arushi Kumar: I am a designer who recently moved to the fashion mecca of the United States, New York City. I am steadily working towards owning and operating my own label.

B&B: What is your background in fashion?

AK: I have a degree in Conceptual Design from The School of the Art Institute of Chicago.  I was trained to develop my design ideas from researched concepts and maintain the integrity of those concepts in finished garments. I have worked with independent designers, have created and sold my own collection, and have been a designer for a non-profit company empowering women from the slums of India by training them to support themselves through garment embellishment and construction.

From Arushi’s Graduate Project Piece “Invisible Suitcases”

B&B: When did you begin designing?  Why did you start designing?

AK: Officially, I would have to say I began designing in high school.  Unofficially, I grew up in India where we had a lot of our clothing tailor made.  Needless to say, my mother had to deal with a ridiculously picky 8 year-old who refused to wear pink, plaid, or anything itchy.

I consider fashion to be the most fluid and influential artistic medium (with the exception of maybe performance art) to get a creative message out into the global market and contribute to popular culture in a very current way. Fashion is also, more so than anything, a business.  I aim to change the way that business operates.

B&B: What designers influenced you the most?

AK: I make a conscious effort to not look at a lot of fashion magazines or trend reports, etc.  It’s important to preserve one’s own voice in this business so I try not to be influenced as much as possible.  However, if I have to name a few favorites, I love Jean Paul Gaultier, Martin Margiela, Bruno Pieters and Haider Ackermann for their love of great cut and construction and, for Gaultier and Margiela, a sense of humor about it all.

AK: All artists are trained in “hard skills,” meaning we have the ability to put something new and tangible out into the world – an object, a painting, a garment, a song.  What fuels me is that I have the constant opportunity to create a consciousness about something never previously considered and that I can make something utilitarian that can also be a piece of art.

B&B: In what cities have you lived?  How has that influenced how you create?

AK: I went to school in Chicago, lived briefly in St. Louis, and try to take frequent trips home to India.  My education in Chicago was very pure and uninfluenced by trends and the compulsion to chase after placing big names on my resume, forces that one might succumb to in New York.  So, what I take away from that experience is the drive to blaze my own trail in the industry while being equipped with the tools to do so.   St. Louis was where I created and sold my own 30 piece collection of high-end women’s wear in collaboration with embroidery artists in India.  This project grew out of the necessity to keep the creative juices flowing in a city that is not exactly a “hub” for fashion.  With this project, I was given the assurance that I can sustain myself and manage my own label again when the time comes.

Now that I am in New York, I am taking in all the experiences I can to prepare for exactly that.  Trips home to India fuel my aesthetic direction, add to my knowledge of fabric and embellishment techniques, and inform my business plan as I intend to produce my line there.  All in all, I would have to say that my roots in India are what drive my creative process the most.

From Arushi’s High-End Conceptual Collection

B&B: What would you tell a budding, young designer about the industry?

B&B: What do you hope to change for the better in this industry?

AK: It is massively important for me to put something of myself out into the world.  It is equally as important to improve/honor the quality of life of the people producing my goods in the process.  These people are an integral part of achieving my vision, so they are entitled to a high-level of consideration from me and everyone in fashion.  I intend to translate that sentiment into a fair wages/fair labor business model that empowers and incentivizes my workforce with health, education, and social benefits.  This is the only way I can personally feel fulfilled in fashion.  As much fun as it is to make beautiful things and to profit from this creation, it is not worth the sweatshop culture so many people in this industry have come to embrace.

Dress From Arushi’s Experimental Conceptual Series “Winzeler Gear”

B&B: What is your favorite color? Your favorite season?

AK: Red. I wear it when I need to feel powerful, it’s a tool not to be overused.  And the season is always spring.

B&B: Who do you wear the most? 

AK: The answer to this should be “me”!  A shocking number of designers spend their days in white t-shirts and that broken-in pair of jeans.  I have my equivalents to those and I am very loyal.

From Arushi’s Graduate Project Piece “Invisible Suitcases”