One year after working with the Chennai-based athleisure-brand House of Chase, Gayathri Jaganathan knew that she wanted to create her own luxury prêt line for women. That was at the beginning of 2018. A year-and-a-half later, the 24-year-old unveiled the debut collection of her brand Dramatic Pause. “It took me until June this year to conceptualise, design and create the signature identity of the brand,” she begins.
Spending the last couple of months building up anticipation towards the launch of the label, the fashion graduate from Pearl Academy kept the intrigue going by uploading sneak peeks from the collection Poetic Depth on Instagram. “Dramatic pause it a literary device which involves creating a fracture of sorts within a sentence and is used to create a strong impact. That was what I hoped to do with my clothes.” Introducing fit and flow silhouettes into her debut line, expect to find a range of whimsical dresses and free-flowing gowns with deep necklines in Bemberg satin fabric.
Armed with literary allegory, the designer credits the jewel-toned colour palette to her inspiration: Gothic romantic novel and poetry. Dominated by shades of scarlet, maroon, fuchsia pink, bottle green, and black, the pieces are “apt for day dos, evening soirées and late-night parties.”
A delicate mix of fluid and structured contours, the collection also showcases an array of power dressing silhouettes with blouses, double-breasted blazers, high-waisted skirts and cropped trousers. With a major focus on fit, form and fabric, Gayathri explains that surface detailing in the collection is kept to a minimum and most apparel only feature intricate pleats, ties and soft ruffles.
Currently working from her production unit in Anna Nagar that also doubles up as a studio space, Gayathri’s retail plans include online marketing and taking part in pop-ups across the city.
Rs 2,500 onwards.