Megan Ryley has worked in popular design, for labels like Tommy Hilfiger and in haute couture under the Maggie Norris label. During her days in New York, she started her own small boutique-designer knit line with a partner. And it was nothing else but these little ventures that fuelled the desire to start a full collection. So when she moved to India, she fell in love with the rich colours, textures and visually interesting sights. Then, she gave birth to the independent fashion designer lying dormant inside for quite a long time.
How did she picture her first collection? “The inspiration for my first collection was a little fishing village of Tranquebar in South India. The colours, atmosphere, architecture and sea inspired me so much and everything else too was built from there.” , enlightens Megan.
She holds immense respect and admiration for talented designers like John Galliano, Chris Benz, Christian Dior and Sabyasachi. In reality, these names are mere few as she looks up to everyone who does something good. Recounting the bits of her early career, she mentions that she used to be really inspired by Dior, master of couture. She loves the designer’s absolute attention to detail and fit and not to miss, the amazing quality of the craftsmanship. But now, she feels a deep inclination towards conceptual designers too.
Well, everybody has an admiration for someone or the other but there lies a true muse always. For Megan, what is it? To this, she responds “A designer is like any other artist – we do it because we love it and it just comes as second nature. When I look at anything, it gives me an idea…So I guess life inspires me to design.”
Her brand sticks to the thought ‘Evolve with every little change’. She lays tremendous emphasis on consumer reaction and personal inspirations. As a consequence to this, the brand undergoes an evolutionary change season to season. She considers every collection a learning process which has to result in something better than before. But how does she clear out her path of design blocks? “Design blocks are definitely tough to deal with! As I mentioned earlier, design just comes as second nature. Even though times might get tough or I get blocked or busy with something else, I can never stop designing. So as soon as my obstacle passes, my mind is racing with new ideas again. And when I get frustrated, I just remind myself that it will pass.”, says Megan
