Last week Pink city set a war of colors as designer Manish Malhotra showcased for Jaipur’s new couture destination ‘Miraangi’. With its magnificent palaces and royal lineage Jaipur has always been at the ground zero of India’s world acclaimed jewellery affaire. Now, it’s contemporary couture wear digging its claws deeper into the city which is quite accustomed of appreciating luxury in its true essence.

Lately, being all smitten by Manish’s festive collection and the changing couture line of the city, fashionfad got in conversation with Vrinda Agrawal of ‘Miraangi’ – decoding Jaipur and its couture indulgence. Here is a tete-a-tete with a young entrepreneur who recently shifted to Jaipur from Mumbai, with a treasure trove of modern luxury to only enrich the city’s deep rooted heritage.

Can you tell us about the journey of Miraangi …
Miraangi opened its doors to pink city in April 2010. It is a 3000 square feet fashion haven in Jaipur stocking designer wear and accessories. Miraangi means the rising rays of Sun, and since our launch last year in we have gradually risen and shone bright with the launch of ‘Manish Malhotra Couture’.

How did the concept of a couture boutique in Jaipur originate?
‘Miraangi Couture’ is a store within Miraangi, stocking couture wear designers like Manish Malhotra, Sabyasachi, Manish Arora and Rajdeep Ranawat to name a few. Apart from stocking their prêt line at the store, we will be concentrating on customization and personal appointments with the designers. Clients are encouraged to take prior appointments, apart from viewing the stock .We will also carry designer samples and look books to aid customization. We felt there was a miss in this segment and clients had to travel elsewhere which now Miraangi fulfills.

Manish’s show in Jaipur created ripples in the fashion circle. How did Jaipur respond to it?
Manish Malhotra and Miraangi both together completely took Jaipur by storm. Jaipurites had never earlier witnessed a fashion show of this magnitude and with such finesse. Since all the models were of Manish’s choice and flown in from Mumbai, it further enhanced the frenzy. There was almost a crowd of over 750 people who were purely invitees.

What do you think about Tier II cities like Jaipur as the market of couture wear? How much potential does it have?
I think Jaipur has a lot of potential. It is the premier II tier city in India and has also now become a major wedding destination. Although Jaipurites are a little hesitant to experiment with new cuts and styles, but that will slowly change once they will be exposed to the latest trends and it is made available to them in their own city by Miraangi. In such cities people need to be exposed to fashion which suits them. This is the challenge that our team is constantly working on with each client personally.

Is Jaipur a Trend driven society? I mean when royals have their own peculiarities, and not-so-trend driven upper middle class like Delhi & Mumbai, how do you source garments for your store? Is it more of ethnic wear?
Jaipur in not a very trend driven society at the moment, they like to stick to known labels and safe silhouettes. They are yet very traditional in their thinking and prefer a lot of embroideries and bright colours. When I source for the store I select designers which deliver all the drama without being over the top. I also have to be very conscious about the pricing. Ethic wear is yet one of the top sellers but it is changing, Manish got an overwhelming response at the show as well at the store, which means that the palettes are slowly changing.

Which other designers does ‘Miraangi’ houses currently?
Miraangi currently is stocking all of India’s top end designers like Manish Malhotra , Sabyasachi, Anamika Khanna, Manish Arora, Cue by Rohit Gandhi & Rahul Khanna, Pankaj & Nidhi, Namrata Joshipura, Kiran Uttam Ghosh, Rajdeep Ranawat, Am Pm, Dozakh, Rewaz and Pratima Gaurav to name a few.

What are your further expansion plans? Which other cities on radar?
At the moment we are focusing on Jaipur and acquainting Jaipurites with different designers. We are yet a young establishment and would like to set all systems working perfectly at Jaipur before venturing out. With the constant support of all designers, we would definitely look at expansion by the mid of next year.

The 90’s popular Jigsaw Menswear of London is all set to do a grand come back by the February, 2012. Frances Walker well known as the ex- in charge of the menswear section at the ace Nicole Farhi will be heading Jigsaw Menswear this time as the labels design executive. The menswear collection will be showcased in 20 varied Jigsaw outlets.

Jigsaw Menswear was earlier headed by Chris Bailey and owned by John Robinson. The brand which was once admired for its range of reasonable and youthful collection suddenly vanished from the scene in the year 2002. The brand with its high-waisted leather jeans, V-neck jumpers, formal shirts, terry toweling T-shirts and nylon suits was a great hit of the 1990’s. It could be better regarded as a common man’s brand producing designer collections at an amazingly low-priced rate.  Fabrics that the brand used to craft its garments were subtle and of high quality. But right now it stands nowhere; it has to retrieve its magic all over again to fit itself into the big competition.

With proceeds of £15million in the year 1998, all of a sudden the brand was taken over by Chris Bailey and re-christened as Uth. Slowly it started losing its essence and became non-affordable for the local mass. After three years of endeavor with its re- christened name the brand came with an expiry in the early 2000.

The label at the moment is still possessed by its original proprietor John Robinson. This time the brand will be introducing pre-washed jeans, shorts, amorphous jackets, shirts and cotton jumpers with an incredibly casual approach in the assistance of walker.  Checks, Stripes, polka dots add to the upcoming Menswear by Jigsaw. 

Jigsaw along with its assortments will be displaying accessories which are being crafted in alliance with the esteemed, UK labels Sanders and Chapmans. Sanders and Chapmans are both known for its fêted handcrafted bags and canvas.