T.Munkhsarnai: I try to balance tradition with modernity in my designs

Modern fashion designers have a tendency to follow the latest trends of the fashion industry, but talented designer T.Munkhsarnai continues to design clothes inspired from her heritage. She entwines cultural elements into her designs. She gave an interview about her designs and career.

You recently launched your art studio named Uulen to sell your own designs. What is special about your designs?

In 2013, I graduated from the Urlakh Erdem Fashion Design Institute under M.Enkhjargal lecturer’s instruction. I am grateful that I was a pupil of this knowledgeable person. A year has passed since I launched my own Uulen brand. In my collection, I try to combine cultural elements with the latest fashion trends and I print classic portraits which are well known across the world on cotton and silk fabrics.

Why did you want to be a designer? Did you enjoy drawing since you were a child?

Ever since I was a little girl, I liked drawing and making clothes for my doll. I think every little girl likes this kind of stuff. Perhaps, I was more artistic and persistent in my interest than other girls. I decided to become a designer during my second year in elementary school.

There is a contest called Unsgeljin for teen designers. Have you ever participated in this contest?

I participated in contests several times when I was in elementary school. Each time, I placed first and I thought this was the right path I should follow.

Designers usually make clothes exclusively for men/women or for formal occasions. What is your specialty?

For me, I design clothes that exude cultural elements, but I would like to bring new things to my collection. I think combining different features make my clothes more divergent than others.

Some say that designers are destroying their own national garment and they believe that traditional clothing should be left the way it is, whilst others acclaim designers for combining modern and traditional elements. What is your opinion on this issue?

I do not distort the ethnic patterns of clothes by embedding excessive accessories or changing the garment’s design. I try to reflect modern trends to my own collection without changing the original pattern. I always aim to consolidate modern and traditional features in a balanced way.

What makes your collection unique from other designers’?

I always seek new methods of making clothes and ask myself what I have not tried yet. As a result, new ideas continuously flash through my mind.

What inspires you to make a new thing even at times when you feel drained of new ideas?

I ask myself how to be innovative by imagining a new feature in my mind. After that, I implement them. New ideas come from everywhere but it is important to grasp it.

Famous singers and actors participating in film festivals are wearing clothes which were designed by you. Are your clothes dedicated to special people?

My clothes are being bought by people who have their own attitudes and views rather than artists. But I want to specify one thing which is that garments designed by art studios do not have to be for the public at large.

In recent years, custom tailors are becoming popular. As a result, people misunderstand the difference between a designer and a tailor, and it diminishes a designer’s value. How do you feel about it?

They are earning money with their skills, so I do not judge them, because someone who works in those places struggle to live the same as everyone.

If you found out your designs were duplicated by other designers, would it aggregate you?

I’m not too concerned about the problem, because it is the only thing they could do at best. People are talking a lot about copyright policy nowadays, so I should defend my right. But in reality, this policy is not carried out. There is no copyright protection in our country. As for me, I have lost my ideas to others a lot and they declare them as theirs. But duplicates can never be as good as the original.