Bodice Pop-up in Kochi | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Ruchika Sachdeva | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Poet-comedian Alok V Menon is often seen in architectural silhouettes of bodices with his signature bindings and pleats. Tara Lal of Mumbai’s Chatterjee & Lal Art Gallery is also a fan. As is powerhouse actor Tilottama Shome. But the Delhi-based designer, with her neo-modern workwear that has creatives voting from across the country, is busy doing something else. Ruchika Sachdeva’s childhood name Rechu (pronounced Richu), which also stands for rebirth and re-engineering, is a two-storey concept space in Fort Kochi.
Bodice Pop-up in Kochi | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Curated by him, this cohort of some of the country’s finest design talent includes fashion houses such as Abraham & Thakor, Pero, Raw Mango, Maku Textiles, Ekaa and Savio John. Classic Chandigarh chairs re-edited by wellness brands like Phantom Hands and Pahari Local from Bengaluru. It was launched in December in conjunction with the Kochi-Muziris Biennale. When I meet Sachdeva, hair disheveled and downing curry leaf Negronis at a fun cocktail evening at Pepper House, she’s surrounded by chefs and art curators who are guiding everyone to Bodice x Rechu on Princes Street. persuades her to go. This turns out to be a happy discovery for many visitors to the Biennale. To him, it’s the most fun he’s had in years.
london break
Ruchika Sachdeva, who just delivered Tomorrowland in Japan and Harvey Nichols in the UK, is in London doing a lot of research for “something soon”. “I don’t want to say too much. Wait for September or October,” allows the London College of Fashion alumnus and former Vivienne Westwood intern. And this isn’t even the Design Museum’s exhibition celebrating the contemporary sari The offbeat saree, curated by Priya Khanchandani, will be available starting May 19 and includes a bodice.
The Bodice store in Fort Kochi | Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Winner of the International Woolmark Award in 2018, Sachdeva has always been a meticulous planner. While her brand was born in 2011, she applied for the award only when she was certain she was ready, with a selection of wool swatches sourced mostly from five regions in India. She was careful about spending her nearly $35,000 prize money. When he launched menswear, he did it only “in bits and pieces” because the market was small. “Bodice continues to grow. So Bodice x Rechu was about having fun, believing in your talent and 10 years of community building. Sometimes when you work alone, you feel isolated and it It is difficult. But when artists come together, they create something very impactful. Rechu was done for expression rather than perfection.”
“With Bodice, Ruchika created an exciting brand, and winning the Woolmark Award was recognition of her talent, design and work. Following the win, we launched an amazing new store, on-point brand imagery and communication, and a cool pop in Kochi Now I am looking for a show that creates something fresh and beautiful and creates all the magic on the ramp.”Nishat Fatima, fashion consultant and commentator
Does the pandemic lockdown have anything to do with this experimental phase, I ask her over the phone a few months later. Her pop-up has been extended till March and she, along with her team, is fine-tuning her spring-summer ’23 collection to be shown at Lakme Fashion Week. “Yeah. And I think it’s about age too, connecting with my inner child, not being so serious. She laughs when I remind her she’s only 35. “But I’m 23. Started bodice at age. Wellness exercises, yoga and a lot of reading have made me who I am now. I’m also really interested in psychology.”
A model walks the ramp for the Bodice show by Rise Worldwide at the Lakme Fashion Week 2023 at Jio Garden in Mumbai. Asymmetrical tent tops featured tie-up detailing at the waist, while a wide array of sundresses were uniquely paneled with soft, feminine tailoring. Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
“We repeat clothes in our fashion shows. Why is something considered the last season and we feed that retail cycle of ‘new new, new’? I can show something that I made five years ago and is still fresh and people will be able to write about it.Ruchika Sachdeva
Her quiet confidence was evident in her LFW-FDCI show on Thursday, which featured bright pink, green, blue and yellow hues a day after the festival. The set is inspired by the Dhobi Ghat, with multicolored clothes hanging on bamboo to dry. Models walk past in vintage silks and handwoven crepe dresses, in which she is partial to many different, somewhat older looks, but styled differently. It echoes her thoughts on customers being able to pair a new blouse with the pleated pants they bought five years ago and “not compromising on aesthetics”. It reminds me of our phone conversation a few days back when she quoted a friend and client as saying, ‘I want my clothes to reflect my intelligence, my profession, my artistic expression’. And then she adds, “If you choose to look at it, we shape the culture going forward.”
mind over body
Original text by Bessel van der Kolk, The Body Keeps the Score: Brain, Mind and Body in the Healing of Trauma These days it is Sachdeva’s favorite book, which teaches her how to release trapped anxiety and tension, which manifests as physical pain.
A model walks the ramp during the bodice show organized by Rise Worldwide, at the Lakme Fashion Week 2023, at Jio Gardens, in Mumbai. For practical choices there were flared trousers and pleated shirt dresses. The separates were an important aspect of the collection, as the versatile coordinating sets could be re-worn, styled in a number of ways. , Photo Credit: Special Arrangement
Freedom According to Vivian
“Vivienne Westwood was such a legend. She was eccentric in a good way and didn’t stop by a few rules. She instilled in me a sense of independence. ‘Make your own rules while being sensitive to the environment,’ she would say. Allowed to take some clothes from the section. I have three of which I sadly no longer fit in. But they are safe with my mother.”