He has made many gorgeous women look glamorous. His creativity knows no bounds when he explores the warp and weft to give the handwoven silks of Chanderi and Banarasi brocades a unique twist. From Soha Ali Khan and Bengaluru’s Ramya, to Rohini Nilekani, many celebrities have draped themselves in his six yard wonders. We speak to designer Sanjay Garg as he touches down in the city for the opening of his store.
“I wanted to do something with crafts and something with my hands. I’ve been interested in crafts since I was a teenager and even in school, I used to make scrapbooks and cards. My village Mubarakpur didn’t have good colleges, so I came to Jaipur for graduation in commerce and came to know of IICD, Jaipur, which I joined and later NIFT, Delhi to pursue Textile Design,” he says.
“Like everyone I wanted to go abroad and study, but didn’t want to take money from my parents, so I worked at Shades of India for a few years and then the cluster development programme in Madhya Pradesh undertaken by the Textile Ministry. That was when I realised that India is so rich and decided to work with the weavers and set up Raw Mango. I worked with weavers of Chanderi, Varanasi, Bengal and the block printers of Akola in Rajasthan,” explains Sanjay who has since then simplified the motifs, drapes and colour palette. He shyly confesses to some of the celebrity names who message him and send him photographs of how good they look in his creations.
“Sridevi, Rani Mukherjee, Vidya Balan, Konkona Sen, Dia Mirza, Mira Nair, Sonia and Priyanka Gandhi, Shallu Jindal, Kajol, Sharmila Tagore and Shabana Azmi have all worn my saris. Earlier the notion was that only the arty types or grandmoms wear them, but now the perception is changing. Now it’s even the glamourous young women who believe in sustainable fashion are liking it as I have added contemporary colours, designs and patterns. I get compliments like ‘We only wear saris because of you’ from some of the celebrities,” effuses the 35-year-old designer, who feels he has a long way to go. He adds, “India has such a rich legacy and when it comes to textiles, we can beat the world and I want that respect for my country from the world.”
On his other passions, he adds, “I love exploring the arts and crafts wherever I’m travelling and like to study culture and history. I loved to know about the culture and history when I visited Bali, Europe and Sri Lanka and I want to go to Iran and Cambodia next.”
