From the family of the Original Kerala Jewellers (OKJ) who have been in the jewellery business since 1933, it wouldn’t have been a surprise if Nivya Babu had joined the family business. But, she went on to start her own label NVY, which is now a growing enterprise in the world of sarees. A self-taught designer, she vows to give a face-lift to the traditional saree with her immaculate designs. And with a customer base spread across the world, from the US to the Middle East — Nivya is the next big name in the business. She opens up about her success, her designs and how she derives inspiration from her mother. Gracefully elegant, an incomparable confidence with a touch of attitude, Nivya is classy just like her sarees. Born and brought up in Chennai, she talks about her love for the city.
“Madras is home,” she says, recalling going to school at Church Park, where art was the only class she focused on. “My teacher used to say that art was the only period which got my attention. She was sure that I would grow up to do something with arts. I remember being extremely fascinated by colours as a child.” Naturally, she signed up for a Fine Arts degree at Stella Maris College and then went to Monash University, Melbourne for her masters. On returning to India, she decided to set up a school, but ended up with a design studio. And with no background knowledge in fashion design except that she had an impeccable sense of colour coordination, she started her tryst with the whole nine yards.
“I knew nothing about designing when I started off in 2010. All I knew was that, I wanted to design the kind of sarees that I loved wearing. And I was confident that I wanted to begin with sarees, it was one of the versatile pieces of clothing that I could work on,” she states. She put out her first collection on her page NVY Studio and says that, she was one of the initial entrepreneurs who found a business on Facebook. “I think it is safe to say, I was one of the few who knew, that I could market my talent on Facebook,” she says. And now with the staggering two lakh plus likes, Nivya grew her stand-alone empire and became a designer in her own right. But she begs to differ, “I do not like the glitz and glamour of the fashion business, I just make clothes.”
And though she has dressed celebrities and has a studio tucked in the bylanes of Chennai, she primarily operates from her Facebook page. She does not fancy attending fashion shows, but exhibits her sarees for her loyal customers. It is the eclectic colours, the quirky shades and the chic designs that earned NVY a faithful fan following. “However, I am as nervous about each piece as I have been with my first one; I personally handcraft each saree based on the trends. I keep it simple and just play along,” says Nivya who gave up watching television nine years ago, but is updated in terms of fashion. “I guess I was too addicted to television, but then during Lent season nine years ago, I gave it up completely. My mother is a fashionista and all my trends and inspirations are from her,” adding to which she says, “I guess I got her fashion sense and concentrated on it, than the jewellery business.”
Dance is Nivya’s other love and as we speak, she reveals that she is practicing to perform at a cousin’s wedding. “I am passionate about dance and grab any opportunity to perform.” Juggling all her passions, one of which is travelling, she says, “I love vacations, it is what keeps me sane amidst my busy life. Each country is beautiful in its own way but I am a wildlife person, so my favourite destination is Ranthambore in Rajasthan,” says this travel aficionado who has travelled to 20 countries so far.
