Over the years, actress and TV show host, Roshni Chopra, has been a part of our life and our living room conversation as we watch her on television. Now, the lithe star gives you the opportunity to get more intimate with her and have her clothes take pride of place in your wardrobe.
The accidental actress (we’ll come to that in a bit), has turned to her first love, designing clothes, and has launched her debut collection of glad rags.
The launch in Mumbai on Wednesday evening saw Roshni play host to many of her glamorous friends (Diandra Soares, Karishma Tanna, Shweta Bhardwaj, Amrita Puri, Maria Goretti, Mini Mathur) – all of whom enjoyed playing dress-up in her creations and ordered many silhouettes to take home as well.
Says Roshni, “I’ve always wanted to be fashion designer. I became an actress by chance. It found me. The opportunities came to me one after the other – acting, hosting shows etc. I didn’t want to let go of the experience. But design is something that has always been my passion. In fact, I worked on and set up the very first Blender’s Pride Fashion Tour. That is my baby. But two years ago when I got pregnant and gave up shooting, I had a lot of time on my hands and started dabbling in making clothes to keep my self busy. Hence, this collection is the fruit of that labour and it’s taken me two years to finally launch it. All my friends who are here today encouraged me to launch my line and start retailing it online.”
Speaking about the clothes, Roshni tells us, “I didn’t want to do only pret, or only couture, or only bridal. I didn’t want to narrow down my options. So I’ve done a lot of what I love which is using Indian textile and Indian crafts, fused with a western sensibility. You’ll find a lot of kalamkari work accentuated with zardozi for a pop look. You can wear a ghagra with an image of Krishna dancing across it, with a tee or a ganji or a shirt and style it with your mother’s antique jewelry.”
Actress Shweta Bhardwaj tells us, “I’m one of the muses for this collection. I love the fact that the clothes are very different from the things you find out there. The pieces with the gods on them are like works of art which you can wear. I have already picked out my favourite pieces for the festive season. I particularly love the delicate chanedri cottons ”
Supermodel Diandra Soares reveals, “I love the desi elements in Roshni’s clothes! I love the dhoti pants, the asymmetrical kurtis and the fact that you can mix & match all her pieces. For example, I would wear the top I was wearing (seen in pic) over skinny jeans or the skirt with a nice racer -back ganji!”
Grand Masti star, Karishma Tanna confesses, “I love her colour combinations. Personally, I wear greys, blacks, whites and beiges. And even though some of her creations are vividly colourful, I particularly like these in muted tones (see pic). I like her collection because its urban, easy to wear and very stylish. I like the fact that she’s styled her designs differently!”
Pix: Viral Bhayani for MissMalini