Chennai’s Brass Tacks To Host Sale in Mumbai
Anaka Narayanan.
Anaka Narayanan, 30, set out to be a developmental economist, but was waylaid by her passion for handwoven textiles while working in New York. “In New York, I started longing for clothes that had well-defined silhouettes made from natural and handwoven textiles,” says Narayanan. Having grown up surrounded by handloom textiles—her mother, Bamini Narayanan, is one of the founders of Shilpi, an iconic three-decade-old sari boutique in Chennai—Anaka thought she would find the kind of clothes she was looking for in India. “But I found the cuts very unflattering and the quality highly questionable,” she says.
Seeing this as a business opportunity, she started Brass Tacks, a clothing brand and store in Chennai in 2007. Four years on, Narayanan is ready to see how well Mumbaikars receive her brand, which has acquired a loyal following in Chennai. From Friday, April 22 to Sunday, April 24, she will exhibit select pieces from her Monsoon and Winter 2010 collections, as well as cotton and linen garments at Cache Art Gallery in Bandra.
While using traditional textiles in a modern context isn’t a novel idea, Brass Tacks prides itself on paying particular attention to detail. A common complaint with handloom textiles is that they tend to bleed and shrink. Narayanan uses costlier cotton fabrics that are colour-fast and pre-shrunk, ensuring that the garments retain their shape and shade for years after you buy them. Most of the garments are marked by at least one interesting detail, from the cufflinks on a pin-tucked cotton shirt, or a cowl neck thats adds elegance to a simple cotton kurta. Because her aim is to “create very modern, urban-chic silhouettes”, Narayanan also makes concessions for mill-made fabrics in her collections. “It would completely change the silhouette if I tried to make trousers with handwoven fabric,” says Narayanan. So, some of her trousers have just a hint of lyrca for a better fit. You’ll also find elegant evening dresses and tops crafted out of luxurious mill-made silk.
The Brass Tracks exhibition will be held from Friday, April 22 to Sunday, April 24 at Cache Art Gallery, 187, Turner Road, opposite Moti Mahal, Bandra (West). 10.30 am to 8 pm. Prices start at Rs800 for shirts. Browse through the collections at www.brasstacksmadras.com.
Tags: Anaka Narayanan, Brass Tracks, FashionComments (12)
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Every gita, sita, Natu and Bhosale is a “designer” today.
and then they put a Rs 1000 tag on a top with a round neck, be on the Hindu everyday !!and maintain a glorious facebook review where their family and cousins will praise them to the the hilt! and the real reviews are kept ou !
I was looking for reviews and I luckily got this site. Thank You Mumbai Boss – I can give reviews without being managed by the BT social media manager .
Brass tacks is a clothes which sells everyday, casual clothes in more knits and patterned fabric now and a few handwoven clothes, as they claim !
I am trying to understand the design element in everyday casuals . A pintuck here, A pleat there, A fancy button there and some detail here and there are features of stitching clothes – plain and simple .
Atrocious pricing when we can the same stuff for lesser pricing unless we want to rub shoulders who want to spend more so that they can rub clothes with the high and the mighty in the neighbourhood !
What a shame on branding in India. Buyers beware and take care of your wallets . I was deeply disappointed at the Chennai store !!
While looking for indian cotton clothes in western silhouetes, I went to Brass tacks in Madras because I saw the fan fare on Facebook.
Clothes – some of the styles are sharp. And it is targetted for everyday wear. The styles in Knit fabric shocked me because it looked more shoddy than presentable. the photographs on facebook make everything look glamorous. and was lured in. And you are definitely warned regarding their fabrics which has designs ( the zigzag , ikat etc ) – I felt like I am wearing a school uniform !
Price – for people with deep pockets. very pricy considering that chennai is a third tierd city when it comes to fashion.
So I went back to the tailors with patterns in hand and got all of them stitched – And the price came down much more than what I would have paid at Brass tacks.
And if you have an eye for design who would want to wear a readymade store bought design when you can design it for yourself in the cloth you like, and the design you like and the pattern you want – Brush up your creative skills girls.
India is bulging up with products which has more “brand” image than authenticity.. so Be aware of their slick advertising and marketing.
If you are not looking for distinctiveness and flare in your clothes and want to shell out more , Brass Tacks is the place to go.
I was disappointed with the choices and the prices at their sanctum store – they are generously expensive.
I own a start up company myself , so would definitely hire their marketing manager for their fabulous marketing – very well targeted to markets with deep pockets
Coming from Orissa, one obviously tends to grow up with the love of handwoven clothes. Weavers are designers and they carry a palpable amount of knowledge , which I will not pretend that I have.
But I definitely can understand when the fabric is mixed . Brass tacks Madras ( I love the name ) essentially does not stand up to what it stands for in terms of fabric – coarser and rougher to the skin, lycra mix , spandex , satin finish, thick and unbreathable is nothing brass tacks about it.
If Brasstacks stands for a value that says what it is on its website, I will definitely buy . (Twice bitten five times e shy with my experience on brass tacks ) but this is just another designer brand, that slaps exhorbitant pricing and PR and marketing . Is this why indian brands suffer ?
I can get the same clothes done by my tailor who does a decent job. Even buying the cloth at retail, and paying the tailor my cost is much lesser than what they are sold online.
Besides, with the prints that are being sold, we will all be wearing the same shirts and I will have to hide if I see another one wearing the same !
The concept of articulating handwoven cloth is commendable, but at the cost of 1000% profit for the designer, and the poor tailors being paid a nickel is shameful…This may sound without tact and diplomacy, but that’s exactly is my point – the designers pay pennies and nickles to tailors and pattern makers who do the job and call this labor ! I am sure the designer cannot stitch one straight line herself . Pattern making is another story.
I wouldnt recommend such brands that promote such things , even with brilliant marketing these things are still not hidden – The photographs speaks volumes .
This is the first time in india that handmade woven clothes is articulated into western clothing on a scale that people can wear into everyday living, but the product is targeted at people with very deep pockets . These clothes are also targeted towards NRI’s as well.
Indeed is a pity that common folk who weaves them cannot wear them. It becomes designer ! , where the designer is the western educated , brand welding , upper class elite of india -
it is indeed a pity that a farmers cloth, when branded as “urban/ modern western clothes” it increases the price multiple fold !
this swadeshi- western is for those with euros, pounds and dollars. with my rupee i still cant buy it ! i have to work harder again ?
If there is anything that Brass tacks does well, it is marketing.
A decent tailor will do the same job, if we are ready to follow up with the tailor a dozen times .with Brass tacks available we skip the process by paying 15 times the original cost.
It is too pricy, for simple shirts that are being sold. A tuck and a pleat are essentials more than design.
I love cotton clothes, but I will have to look elsewhere to buy affordable cotton clothes . Besides the cotton is thick and not breathable
Do I have to pay a ransom for clothes made from handwoven fabric ?