Hema Malini’s daughter Ahana Deol has turned dress designer and is ready to hit the racks with her label Happy Hippie
Just when everyone was waiting for Ahana Deol to make her directorial debut, the 23-year-old surprised everyone by coming up with her own clothes line. She says over the phone from Goa, “I am planning to open a store that will have clothes, bags and shoes designed by me. It will also have a small coffee shop, stock cakes, chocolates, and furniture designed by my friends. I am looking at a sort of a mixture.”
Coming from a family of Bollywood stars one would assume that designing is an alien concept for Ahana. However, she seems to be very confident. She says, “Designing happened to me by chance. Everyone knew I was working on my directorial debut.
However, at times creative energies just flow towards different formats. That’s exactly how I got into designing. Also I would go out shopping and wonder if there was an interesting twist to the clothes. I think I am a designer later and a shopper first.”
Ahana has not yet decided on the location of the store. She is scouting for places in Bandra and Juhu. She says, “It is very expensive to find a good place in Mumbai. Real estate prices in the suburbs have skyrocketed. We need a relatively large space.” For this moment she works from a workshop in Goregaon where she designs the outfits.
Describing her collection, which is called Happy Hippie, she says, “My clothes are western – skirts, tops and dresses. They belong to the era of the 60’s primarily – the advent of the mini-skirt look. I have also designed a lot of waistcoats. They have all been inspired from the Victorian Era. I haven’t designed anything Indian yet, but I have an idea of what I will be creating. I have also used an amalgamation of fabrics such as khadi, cotton, silk, linen, velvet, cotton and satin.”
Ahana says she hasn’t’ drawn inspiration from anyone for her collection. “I don’t follow any trends or fashion weeks. I don’t know any designers or look at work and make notes. I have just followed my instinct and now I am all set to debut as a designer.”
