I’ve always believed in the importance of supporting Thamizh businesses that prioritize passion over profit and triumph through tough times by remaining consistent with their work. Of course, every business does need to make profit to thrive long term, but I believe hard work will always reap its (financial) rewards when we focus on our passion to serve.
I posted a short blurb on my Instagram story a few weeks ago titled “behind the scenes of a designer” and received gratitude from those who came across it so I thought of elaborating a bit more on it here. Since we’re approaching wedding season again, I thought it would be a great time to highlight their work and do my share of promoting their brands and make them reachable to you!
As someone who’s known and watched designers who have started their businesses from scratch, with complete passion to change the way fashion is expressed in the Thamizh community, it's a proud feeling to see their designs go from a sketchbook to reality. Days when we force ourselves to dress according to trends and buy outfits only because it was the most accessible are long gone. We now have designers who are able to custom make classy, elegant outfits of our choice based on our colour choices, comfort, designs and body types. All while making sure the client stands out in their own way.
In the past, whenever we thought of high end brands in the wedding industry, our minds automatically shifted to brands and personalities from North India - Sabyasachi, Tarun Tahiniliani, Manish Malhotra to name a few. With all respect to these incredible designers, it's just as exciting to know that we can now find high end designer brands in our community.
Behind every social media post, likes, shares, glamorous photo and video shoots are numerous hours of hard work, sleepless nights, and unspoken challenges that goes unnoticed at times. 2020-2021 was no exception to the list of challenges that designers had to face when they weren’t receiving as many clients as expected. However, they’ve remained consistent with sharing their designs, continuing to present their work on social media in such creative ways and persevering with positivity that better days were on the horizon.
I know there are many but here are a few who I’ve personally witnessed thriving in the journey of designing custom made outfits within the Thamizh community.
In no particular order:
Sharmilaa K Designs - focusing on outfits for Women
Singarajah UK - Focusing on Menswear https://www.singarajah.co.uk/
Culturelle Couture - Focusing on outfits for Women & Children https://www.culturellecouture.com/
James Vince - Focusing on Menswear
