CHENNAI: When you are a bride-to-be, you have every licence to get pampered with your likes, dislikes, and preferences. This also includes considering all the trends while ensuring your sartorial choices are covered. After all, nothing gives a bride a cool rep like discovering a bit of herself in her special outfit. Making this dream a reality for brides in Chennai is Varahi Designer Studio on GN Chetty Road, T Nagar, which was launched a week ago. Started by Purnima Mishra with her partner Anu Prabhu, this is an exclusive bridal studio that takes pride in its innovative blouse designs.
“We concentrate not only on the bride but also the bridesmaids (and the accompanists). We customise bangles, potli bags; we also showcase exclusive saris,” shares Purnima. Besides these, the studio offers customised tailoring of gowns, lehengas and salwars, too.
While the city is home to many bridal studios, what sets this apart, as per Purnima, is their special bridal room for discussions. “Once you get married, you are treated like a queen at home. We want to give the same feel. When a bride comes for discussion, it takes about two hours talking about the different ceremonies and their expectations from us. We also have a chair that will make the bride feel like a queen, and there are other seating arrangements for those who accompany her. We offer them different kinds of beverages,” she explains.
While Purnima comes with an experience of 12 years, Anu has spent five years in the field. Both of them have a diploma in fashion designing. Purnima was always fond of clothes and started her journey by selling saris and salwars. “I had a boutique in Avadi. I was specialising in Kota saris from Kolkata. My crowd wanted more of Kota, then we moved to Chanderi. I directly started tapping weavers and procuring from them. I thought why not make blouses from them too. I did my own wedding blouse and lehenga and people started asking about it. When I got to know people were open to this idea, I ventured into this,” she says.
Purnima notes that Chennai women like classy and subtle finishes. “They like classy embroidery. A lot of places, not particularly bridal studios but other places, get the work done. But brides look for places to get it done in a classy way. So we wanted to start this,” she adds.
Purnima is open to design ideas from the customers, but she assures that there will be a touch of Varahi in what they deliver. “It is not possible for any designer to replicate. Replicating someone else’s work is not a mark of a good designer. There will be a tinge of our work on the blouse. We understand what the bride is looking for and we suggest what works and what doesn’t depending on her sari,” she offers.
With eight people working with her, Purnima says that an order can be done within seven-eight working days. Stitching price for normal blouses is Rs 1,000, salwars Rs 1,200 and bridal blouses start at Rs 1,200. Instagram: @varahidesignerstudio