CHENNAI: From men wearing palazzo pants to brides choosing sneakers over high heels, style statements are changing. It need not always be gold and silver that attracts. Fashion is an industry that keeps evolving every occasion, every season and every day. A recent trend or rather upgrade to the line of work is prioritising comfort and accessibility over glam and glitters.
Stepping into producing comfortable yet stylish attires is the two-year-old brand House of Miraa. The city-based label produces slow, conscious, and nature-inspired handcrafted products for kids. “It is concerning that kids grow in a fast-paced and machine-paced world. Sadly, everything is technology around them. For them to stop and appreciate handmade products is what we are trying to come out here,” shares CM Kamalapriya, founder of House of Miraa.
Style with no bounds
The brand’s models wear flower-knitted shirts, polka-dotted shorts, striped pants with soft elastic, fidgets to open and close a pocket, garden-inspired trousers, and a dinosaur T-shirt. These collections are brought to life by Kamalapriya herself. A book and a pen to write down ideas, an electronic gadget, a stabilised internet connection, and some time at hand are all that is needed to design these new creations. “We want to create clothing that celebrates differences. There are no Indian brands that have adaptive clothes — that meet the unique needs of children who may have physical or sensory challenges — as a line of their existing products,” she points out.
If not for labels, adaptive clothing is manufactured by NGOs. According to the 25-year-old, “Those clothes are not very exciting. They are normal coloured fabrics. Nowadays, parents dress their kids with so much thought and importance.
When we live in that world, I feel like kids with (special) needs should not be deprived of something because of their condition.” She emphasises that inclusion is the core value of their plan. The brand promotes pure cotton custom-made clothes with a unit in ECR. Seven people — three women and four men — are involved in the production.
Kamalapriya explains adaptive clothing as “The ability to wear the clothes.” “People with mobility restrictions may not be able to stretch their hands. So, wearing a T-shirt with that small hole becomes difficult,” she says.
On the other hand, some kids can dress up on their own. Say, kids with autism can most definitely dress up on their own. But buttoning the shirt might be a difficult task because that involves a lot of concentration. Some kids find the tags on their clothes itchy and irritating. She adds, “It also depends on every child and their needs. It depends on the condition and the grade of the condition.”
Addressing all these difficulties, Kamalapriya opened up the shoulder side, on the top. “Now it’s easier to put on. I exchanged the buttons with velcro, where all the kid has to do is strap the shirt and it gets stuck. None of the label’s clothes have tags. Some of the shorts are also diaper-friendly. The shorts have side zips, and the parents or caregivers have to unzip, change the diaper, and zip up again,” she says.
New leap, new faith
The inclusive line started in July 2024 is not limited to kids but can be availed by people across age groups. “I took a lot of time to understand the needs through research.” With this move, Kamalapriya is minimising the market gap in this sector.
“Since the research is done, we have created a PDF with all the inputs so other brands could adopt these techniques in their labels. Imagine every brand having a line of adaptive clothing,” she says, adding, “We do accept that we do not know it all. Every day is learning.”
Kamalapriya’s understanding of the subject also comes from her home. “I have a cousin diagnosed with cerebral palsy. The environment we grew up in was filled with inclusiveness. I went to Lady Andal (school). It was also an inclusive school where each classroom had a child with special needs studying with us. I have seen them personally and am close to most of them.” she shares.
Talking about people looking at individuals with special needs in a different light, Kamalapriya says that it is because they have no exposure to this world to be concerned and empathetic. If exposed, people will be kinder towards them. “I had that (exposure) all my life, I felt like that’s why I could give back. Since I have this upper hand, I cannot be not doing anything,” she concludes.
Visit houseofmiraa.com or reach out to houseofmiraa@gmail.com