Oprah Winfrey has inspired many women across the world to change and find meaning in their lives. She did the same for Thiruvananthapuram based designer/social entrepreneur Sobha Ashwin too. In Sobha’s words, “I used to watch Oprah’s show after school and there was one episode that completely changed my way of thinking. That episode was shot in Africa during Christmas time where underprivileged children were given clothes and gifts and it was an eye opener seeing the huge smiles on their faces. I took a decision that whatever field I would get into or whatever part of the world I would go to, philanthropy would be an important part of my life.”
Of course, philanthropy runs in the family too. “I learnt how to share and care from my grandmother and even when she was 90, she would feed stray dogs. My mother, on the other hand, taught me how to multitask and be genuine,” she adds. Sobha, a well-known face in Thiruvananthapuram, took her MBA degree, worked with Hidesign for a year and learnt about business, before destiny led her into designing.
Her husband owned a reputed clothing brand and a factory visit made her understand that weaving was a dying art and that the weavers were a slowly disappearing tribe. This made Sobha start her design store to revive handloom, specialising in handloom, apparel and accessories for the youth. Without any experience and armed with only a flair for fashion, she made her entry.
“Call it my ego or self-pride, I did not want to take money from my husband and built my store from scratch,” she says. One of her attempts is to remove the notion that handloom is boring and not stylish. Part of her profits goes to artisans. She also has an eco-friendly and Ayurvedic clothing line and gives aspiring designers a platform to showcase their products.
She also conducts marathons and educates under privileged children. A self-confessed dreamer, Sobha is also an avid traveller who loves spending time with her girl pals. She recently discovered the joys of solo travel. She says, “I have two elder brothers and I always led a protected life. Travelling opens new vistas to different cultures and people but when you travel alone, you get enriched and shed fears. I travelled to Goa solo, and I had a great time and I followed that up with a trip to Coimbatore and then Bengaluru.”
She adds, “ I ran the marathon there amongst hundreds of women and the energy was unbelievable!”
