Topped with Caramelised beads?

Aastha
Apr 23, 2017
3 min read

From Valentino to Proenza Schouler, all of their secrets have been dug into as Ruchira Verma tells us about what actually goes behind creating a couture masterpiece. She tells us about the different techniques and treatments done on the material and embellishments to keep the designs from being copied.

Ruchira Verma , a graduate in Dress making and Fashion Designing is an established haute couture embroiderer and has been working in the industry for the past 20 years in association with one of the biggest International Design Labels. In an exclusive interview with Limn, she tells us all about the insides of the couture world and how her journey has been over the past years. Ruchira has been working under and export company , Persil , under her boss , Percy Maloo for 20 years. The company has been associated with 20-30 of the biggest fashion brands like Valentino, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Yves Saint Lauren, Dolce&Gabbana, Tom Ford, Oscar da la Renta ( one of the major clients ) as well as newest designers like Proenza Schouler and many more all over New York , Paris , Milan and London. They even deal with Celebrity clients both , Indian and International. To name a few , Victoria Beckham , Beyonce , Taylor Swift , Amy Adams , Nita Ambani , Priyanka Chopra ,Kareena Kapoor,Malaika Arora Khan , Katrina Kaif and many others. However , the company does not deal with the clients directly. They get these orders from the designers firm as ‘ VIP orders’ and the names are only disclosed later. Now coming to the main question , What work does the company do ? They provide the designers with the finest embroidery customised for their master pieces.

We had a chat with Ruchira where she told us that just a month back they’d got an order form Oscar de la Renta firm where the directions said that the outfit was customised for a VIP. Ruchira further added by saying that at that time they hadn't even been informed that it was for somebody here in India. It was only after the piece got delivered that they were told that it was for someone in Bombay, a socialite, the name, however, was still not disclosed. She also said that there are times where they are given in names from the very be-ginning as well. It depends upon the client’s and designer’s confidentiality and choice. We also Spoke with the embroiderer regarding her personal interests where she told us that she’s extremely interested in art. She is a scrounger for good art and has a home full of paintings that she’s captured from different areas. She also said that she loves diamonds and designs her jewellery herself. That’s not enough , she loves working with interiors too and has designed her entire home all by herself !

An embroidered piece at The Persil done by Ruchira Verma for the designer , Oscar de la Renta

Nita Ambani donning the same piece by Oscar de la Renta at her Pre Wedding Anniversary Party 2016.

About the process that the company takes , Ruchira told us that they often get samples or inspiration pictures from which they have to derive an embroidery pattern. These pictures have a huge range, she tells us, from sketches , random doodles , paintings to even random pictures clicked on the road. Once they receive these pictures , they create a mood board and start working on the patterns for embroidery. Once that is done , the patterns are sent to the designer’s firm for approval post which , the actual work is started and the hunt for the right material begins. In order to avoid plagiarism or any sort copying the material is put under treatment . This treatment includes burning the sequins or beads , roasting it or some-times even boiling it to bring the material into a non attainable organic form. This material, then by hand , is embroidered over the single pieces. Sometimes , there are several sets made of the same outfit so attaining the precision becomes a tough and tiresome task. Once , Ruchira tells us , they had designed a bodysuit for for a famous international artist for her concert where they had to make 6 pieces of the same cause the artist had to perform in the same outfit for 6 different locations!

pictures of the raw piece of freshly done embroidery at the Persil Embroideries ready for export to Tom Ford’s firm. The last picture is of Amy Adams donning the same outfit for Tom Ford’s movie, Nocturnal Animals’ premiere on November 6 , 2016.