Designer Ruchika Sachdeva on work and life after the Woolmark Prize

It’s been a year since Ruchika Sachdeva catapulted to international fame by winning the International Woolmark Prize 2017/18 for womenswear. Scroll through an international luxury fashion retailer’s website today, and you’ll be pleasantly surprised to see Bodice pop up in the inventory. Sachdeva started her label in 2011 and the progress she has made in the last eight years is phenomenal. Meet the designer in person and you will find a quiet, focused creative force who likes to do things her way, at her own pace—she’s quiet in a manner that makes you want to lean in and listen closer.

Having freed herself from set formats of fashion week schedules, harnessing star power or creating diffusion lines that cater to India’s insatiable craving for festive wear, the designer has focused all her energies on doing the one thing she set out to do. Her only benchmark is her last collection. “I am really hard on myself,” she says simply—a fact that’s not hard to believe given her work ethic. Her menswear debut at Lakmé Fashion Week summer/resort 2019, her first show in India since autumn/winter 2019, saw a mix of influencers and indie stars on the runway. Overwhelmed by their support, Sachdeva shed an uncharacteristic tear as she took the bow. “I turned at one point and didn’t know they were all behind me,” she had exclaimed as I met her backstage, where the atmosphere was overflowing with energy.

There’s no doubt that Bodice is India’ best bet for an Indian contemporary label with a strong connect to a global audience. Vogue spoke to the designer, who is a maximalist in the way she approaches minimalism down to the finest detail, on charting international territories, why she chose the road less taken, and how she emerged victorious.

In what way do you think the Woolmark Prize impacted your career the most?

I think the biggest outcome was that it gave me a foot in the door of the international market, because I think that’s one of the hardest things to do. There are way too many brands and if you’re not a part of it [the market], if you’re not interacting with the people who form the industry on an everyday basis, the memory of your brand fades even if you’ve had a good time during one fashion week. So I think what it really helped me with was stepping into the international market and exploring it.

Do you a feel a sense of distinction from your contemporaries here after you got international approval?

I honestly feel like it’s something that you do and it all goes well. To me, it’s the same as if I did a good show over here or had a store opening. Of course, it’s a really esteemed award, and once you win it definitely opens a lot of doors. But honestly it depends on how you take it forward. I think it’s important to be realistic and make the most of it, and it definitely makes you more visible. But in the long run, it’s yet another thing that you have achieved, and that’s what makes other people believe in you more as a fashion designer, as a brand or whatever.

Since you’re one of the youngest to achieve it, it’s a big deal.

Maybe I’m just hard on myself, so I don’t end up thinking like that. For me it’s like, “That’s great Ruchika, now what, what’s next?” That’s how I talk to myself. I keep it in mind that it’s a creative achievement; I actually forget how old I am, and I do not look at it from that perspective. But I do think it’s a great win.

You could’ve gone down the international fashion weeks route upon gaining recognition, but you chose to stay away from that format. Can you tell us why? 

I am actually questioning the relevance of doing a fashion show as a format of presenting your garments, be it in India or outside. Doing a show once in a while is one thing, but getting into that format at this age, it makes you question, who is really attending it? What are you getting out of it? Is it really leading to what you want to achieve from it? I made a business plan and realised it’s probably better for me to take another direction for a long term achievement of my goals, rather than doing a show. Even though there was a lot of pressure for doing a show; it sounds great for people to say, “Oh she did fashion week.” But again, you really need to question the longevity of that.

Doing a show at Paris Fashion Week requires a lot of funds. So I thought, “Okay, I am going to put all of my resources here and then what?” I don’t have a second bridal line on the side to support the kind of funds required to do an international show. I decided to take another route altogether and focus on growing the brand, rather than showcasing. I’m not investing much in PR as of now; I’m investing more in wholesale. I showcase my collection in different formats and it’s more of meeting with the buyers and developing relationships with them, doing direct sales, understanding the customer, getting feedback, making a more long-term strategy—because for me it felt like doing a show would be more of a short-term strategy. That’s just for my own business; it’s very different for everybody else.

Think of the fashion weeks currently from the perspective of those that are attending every show, and not just in Paris. They would have just finished mens’ shows, couture shows, shows in three other fashion capitals. It’s very repetitive and as a new brand, just having the opportunity to do that isn’t good enough of a reason to do it.

What are the pressures of supplying to a bigger audience?

The funding that I had received through Woolmark was really helpful, and I think the rest has happened very organically. I only applied when I felt like I was ready. We started in 2011 and I’ve really chosen to go very organically, one step at a time, because it is very important to me—the quality of the product I offer, the fit, the longevity, the finishing, everything is very important for me. It’s honestly been quite a long time since we’ve been working on these things and then I applied, so we were ready. And at this point, the systems I have set in place are such that I could be gone for a month, and nothing would stop. I knew that if we win, I had a full strategy in my mind because this is something that I planned, so we were ready to scale up production with the funds that came in.

According to you, what sets you apart from your competitors? 

There are lots of things but I think it is mostly the product. The nature of the product that I offer, I feel, is something that women are looking for right now, which means that a lot of it was made in India; it was made using local artisanal skills while at the same time it was quite contemporary, which means that anybody could wear it anywhere in the world. It was consciously made; I had thought about each and every factor, right from the thread to the button to how it was made, and certain elements in the garment that could help you increase or decrease [the range] of the garment size as well. Everybody talks about these things when it comes to a brand, so they almost sound like clichés. But the most important thing is, does your product actually deliver all that?

When you have that product lying on the rack, is it something that will take your woman from day to night? Is it something that is consciously made? Does it actually keep the promises it’s making? It’s really not something out of the world. I think what struck a chord [with my audience] was that I had actually thought of these things, and when you looked at the garment, it provided. I don’t want to make something super innovative or out of the world. I just want to make the garment that I personally want to wear. 

How are you planning to take on a sustained approach, both to grow the brand and in what you do?

I think one of the most important things to remember is to not rush. It’s about sustainable growth. Which means you think about each and everything, you question them and you move accordingly. We try to do our bit. I’m not saying that each and everything we use is completely sustainable, but we are doing as much as we can to ensure that the clothes are made consciously. With sustainability becoming such a buzz, it’s also important to remember what it means. I think it’s about having a sense of responsibility as a designer or as a person who manufactures things. Living in Delhi and breathing the [polluted] air every day is a good reminder of why this is important. It’s like when you see a dirty road and you throw garbage there, but the challenge is: can you think of the road in another way?

You said you take sabbaticals from time to time. What is your creative process like?

It’s something that drives me; it is very important for me to keep enjoying what I do, and I think being in fashion it is hard because you’re constantly meant to create a lot, and you’re developing a product on a very frequent basis. I think as the founder of this brand, it is very important to me to remain authentic to what I’m doing. Travelling and getting out of my comfort zone is kind of like my process of how I keep myself inspired and how I keep myself relevant. It also makes me realise the things that are actually really good about our country. Meeting people from different cultures, it opens up your mind.

A lot of our thoughts are borrowed, inherited while growing up, and we don’t realise it. I feel like the process of travelling helps me really question those.

Bodice has grown in different ways. How have you grown along with it?

I have grown in terms of becoming more secure about my own process, and that security gives me more freedom. As a designer, self-confidence makes me enjoy the process even more, because that security gives me the ability to take certain risks and decisions that could be considered risky or offbeat.

There wasn’t a lot of awareness about sustainable clothing in India and to be able to do it for a long time was a challenge. The things that I am working on are completely different, and I think my journey as a designer and the product itself that I make has evolved. For example I took a lot more effort in going home on time instead of working as much as I can. My priorities have changed. There’s no drastic change in the working of Bodice. It’s all happened slowly over time. All I can say is that it’s more evolved, more secure, more confident and that allows for more free and authentic creations.

What’s the biggest risk you’ve taken with Bodice?

So many things you do that are not tried-and-tested and just trying are a risk in themselves. It’s small things, even say for example, you choose a colour that you don’t think will sell. Even starting a brand (and starting with the kind of clothes that I made) is a bit of a risk.

You took on mens fashion this season at Lakmé Fashion Week. Tell us about your decision.

For me it was really fun to design for men instead of women, because when I design for women I spend a lot of time thinking, ‘would I wear this?’ With men I was creating for another gender and it really didn’t matter. The style is different, the things I’m conscious of myself are different, I could look at it very differently and it was a lot of fun to do that. Now I can imagine how men design for women. All these amazing iconic male designers create clothing for women and I always used to be like, ‘how do they manage to do that?’. I [used to] think I’m a really good designer because I am a woman and I’m making for women, but I realised the fun and joy that comes from a blank canvas—to design clothes that you don’t have to wear, to be free of all the practical chains.

How was the response?

It was really good, we are getting a lot of enquiries. There’s still not a lot of retail machinery around menswear if I want it to be a sustainable business. When I started women’s, I realised that nobody wants to sell this. You really need to talk to people and convince them that it has potential. It’s possible, but it is just a matter of doing it.

Are you planning to open another store soon? 

I am opening a store within my studio. It’s again a risk that I am taking. It’s quite lovely, I like it. I think the right women will come and buy. My mom was horrified and thinks I should choose a more commercial location. But in Delhi, everything is a marketplace, and nothing really inspired me. I think we can do the same from here. It should open in March or April. It’s about providing this kind of peace. We are providing an ecosystem more than a store.

What future do you have in mind for Bodice?

I don’t have a big dream as such to be honest. I believe that the future is really unpredictable. I take one step at a time. I take the opportunities I’m presented with and make the most of them.

What I do is only compared to my own last season. I don’t compare with anybody else because everybody has a different journey. But in terms of my own work, I consider it very important to ensure that what we offer has good quality and a strong aesthetic sensibility, no matter how much we create. Because in fashion, sometimes we do it a lot; when you are an emerging designer internationally, it can cause pressure. But even then, I will maintain the quality of what I do and get better with it. Learn more, as much as I can, as long as there are good stores that sell my product around the world, and as long as I am relevant as I grow older.

Also read:

17 sustainable buys under 5k to help you commit to slow fashion in 2019

Earthy, boxy, boring: Do sustainable clothes have a standard look?

Highlights: Sustainable Fashion Day at Lakmé Fashion Week