Desi with a twist of gender fluid
Aastha Jhunjhunwala’s journey into designing men’s wear under her label STHAL.A is rather uncommon.
To begin with, this 26 year-old entrepreneur scored a degree in Psychology and Anthropology and initially, did not have much technical training in fashion.
“I think a lot of my fashion knowledge comes from being around my mother, who from a young age started styling herself, eventually seguing into designing and making her own garments too,” reveals Aastha.
“As a child I was influenced by it and took part in it, but as an adult it became rarer. I think subconsciously the need persisted, and I did a one year diploma in fashion design, a couple of years ago, after which, I launched my label for men’s and women’s wear,” she adds.
Interestingly, Aastha was always sceptical about designing men's wear, since she didn’t come from a fashion background, per se, and the one year course only taught her how to make women's clothing. However, she feels, “It’s a great time to be part of the industry and fashion in general due to the shift from ascribed gender clothing to a more fluid approach. This gave me the confidence to be able to foray into menswear without necessarily having to design what is typically considered as menswear, which I feel I may not be very good at yet.”
Using classic silhouettes (like the Cuban collared shirt) and finding their modern representations, as well as adding a new perspective is the design aesthetic at STHAL.A.
Fortunately, that seems to also be in trend right now. “Men’s wear is taking a huge turn, especially in India, I think the discourse of ‘men not having as many options as women’, or that ‘men don't care about what they wear as much’, or that ‘fashion is more for women’, is slowly becoming redundant. At least I hope it is,” confesses the designer.
She adds, “It’s an exciting time for me to be a part of this change, where my friends call me and ask for advice, or want to go fabric shopping with me, or send screenshots of what they've liked and hope to emulate. I am all here for it!”
The STHAL.A label is defined by an understanding of what fabric and tools Aastha wants to work with. With the current collection, Woodblock, which is a homage to the art of hand-block printing, first and foremost was the blocks that were used and the knowledge of using them on denim.
“For this collection, the techniques and materials are absolutely different from the previous ones. My mother does the block printing, and we also use the same materials you would see in any block-printing artisan's workshop,” she reveals, adding, “At STHAL.A, we like to work with Indian textiles and art forms, but with our own contemporary twist on it, while trying to be conscious of the resources we use in doing so.”
And what is the USP of this young and fun brand? Says Aastha, “I think the few words that I would use to describe STHAL.A are — home-grown, inclusive, paradoxical and finally environmentally conscious. The hope is to be a brand that helps people value what they put on their bodies, have it tell a story, empower and educate them, and push them to make more conscious choices.
The USP in a more marketing sense would be that we will always be a brand that follows the motto of ‘Fashion with Purpose’, whether it is to create a dialogue about gender, or by heroing an art form like block printing.”
And finally, if Aastha could style a Bollywood actor, who would it be and why? “I think Ranveer Singh, because of how fluid he is with his fashion. But also Vijay Varma (from Gully Boy), Jim Sarbh and Ishaan Khatter.”