A sneak preview of the line will be paraded on the runway of Hotel Malla in Thamel where local celebrities will be sashaying in the new label that promises to be fresh, unique and affordable.[break]
Republica sat down with Subba, who is also busy with the movie Goodbye Kathmandu, to learn more about the company and her inputs to the labels.
Reason behind the change in track: from real estate to designing?
A few years back, Manish had pitched me the idea of a fashion label but it never materialized due to our other commitments. And since I don’t have fulltime job to keep me tied down, I thought why not? Plus there’s never a wrong time to do a right thing.
Inspiration for the collection?
It’s all street fashion that we see in Nepal, especially in Kathmandu, but with a touch of sophistication. For muses, we have young divas like Blair from Gossip Girl and the kind of clothes they wear.
Could you give us a preview on how the collection will look like?
At the moment, House of Alternative Apparel will be bringing out three clothing labels. Initially, we started with the concept of Eco Essentials, a pure organic line, which was conceptualized two years ago. For this, we’ve mostly focused on organic cotton and it’s going to be more of comfort with trendy touch. The line will also be exported. Just T’s will solely focus on summer t-shirts with cool graphics and quotes. Aira will be an assortment of everything for women from corporate, summers to cocktails dresses.
Any interesting story behind the company’s name?
We toyed with a lot of ideas before settling down with the name, as it comprises every aspect of our designer house and its sensibilities. “Apparel” stands for clothes; “alternative” because we have variety of labels, and “house” because we get everything under the same roof.
Are you directly involved in designing and sketching as well?
For sketching, we have in-house designers. But the concept is solely of Manish and mine. After sketching and deciding what colors to play with, we sit down with the team because they are more experienced in fabric and pattern aspects. The last decision, however, is ours.
Local designers have cornered themselves to boutique, citing lack of fabrics and the country’s situation for not going prêt-a-porter. How difficult was it for the label to materialize?
When it comes to fabrics, there’s a huge vacuum here in Nepal. At the moment, we’re more concerned about the operational costs and haven’t even thought about profits. But other details, like getting generators, have added to the expenditure. Apart from that, getting the right workforce, be it designers or tailors, has made it difficult.
How much of liberty are you giving to them to express their creativity?
It’s more of a symbiotic relationship. We wanted to provide a platform for fresh designers out of school so that they can learn with us and at the same time work. About the final outcome, I do 90% of the decision-making for women’s line.
Besides Eco Essentials, have you guys experimented with local fabrics for the other labels as well?
Since the fabric market is small, there are chances of other designers working with the same fabrics. So we’ve made sure to use unique textiles and refrain from fabrics available here. We don’t want our clothes ending up looking generic. However, we’ve used local fabrics for some of the designs for the other two collections. We also have our fabric stock from India. For tees, we have imported from Bangladesh.
You’ve been a thrift shop lover. So is the price range going to be more of an H&M or high-end one?
Well, it’ll depend on the designs. If the craftsmanship is very detailed and lot of works gone into it, the price will go up accordingly. However, we do want our label to penetrate the market; so quality with affordability is definitely our agenda.
When we talk about different clothing sizes, the market doesn’t serve us with many options. Has the label looked into this aspect as well?
Our collections will be available in three different standard sizes—Small, Medium and Large. We’ve worked on the basis of our research on Nepali body types. What we’ve seen here is that the clothes available here aren’t actually standard ones. Even I have a hard time finding clothes for myself (sighs).
In the crowd of boutiques and mushrooming retailers, what will Malvika Subba bring to the table?
From the selection of fabrics and buttons to stitching, everything will have an edge. Our aim is to provide a line of clothing that’ll look good, if not better than what’s being offered in the current scene.
On Wednesday, April 13, Splendor on the Grass, the Nepali New Year Festival 2068, will see the launch of House of Alternative Apparel.
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