Check out The December Lot skirts by Colors & Mirrors

With its latest project Embracing Diversity, this online brand works with models from marginalised societies
Check out The December Lot skirts by Colors & Mirrors

Colors & Mirrors is not just the name of this brand that specialises in skirts but reflects in its creations as well. “Two things that women cannot live without — one is colours and the other is flaunting themselves in front of mirrors,” says Charu Rupa Srikanth, founder of this year-old home grown brand. Residing in Coimbatore, the 29-year-old engineer-turned- entrepreneur runs the online platform single-handedly from sourcing of fabrics to getting them sewn to organising photoshoots. 

Charu Rupa Srikanth
Charu Rupa Srikanth


Skirt stories
It all started in October 2015 when Charu decided to design a skirt for her friend’s birthday and with the enormous social media response, she took it up as a full-time business. Starting from a mini collection of six skirts, she launched a full-fledged collection with 12 summer wrap-around skirts in June 2016. “My inspirations are grandmother and father. Carpentry, plumbing, interior designing, gardening, painting, home decor — they did them all as a leisure activities. Having grown up in a household where everything was hands-on, my interest in designing and creating was natural,” shares Charu.

Transgender models flaunting The December Lot collection
Transgender models flaunting The December Lot collection

Desi drapes
The December Lot, her latest is a collection is inspired by the misty mornings of margazhi, simple jarigai in women’s saris, plum cakes and carols from Christmas. Unlike other collections that have about 25 pieces, this one has double the number with dhoti skirts, circle full flare short and maxi skirts and layered umbrella cut skirts. “I want my skirts to be reusable and versatile. Surface embellishments make the clothing  high on maintenance, so I design them only upon request,”shares Charu. Releasing every alternate month, she requires one month to plan and one month to launch. Attracting mainly women in their 20s, the line has an unusual combination of colours and fabric patchworks like olive pinks, indigo blues and copper browns in kalamkari, bagru and zari. With the fall of fabric depending on the choice of silhouettes and cutting methodology, she uses handloom, cotton, raw silks and khadi. “While pochampalli design is my favourite, ikat skirts are the highest selling,” adds Charu. She also makes anarkali pieces based on custom orders.

Model with vitiligo in the Embracing Diversity series
Model with vitiligo in the Embracing Diversity series


Wrap it up
Mid-November saw her embarking on the Embracing Diversity project, a photo series where she worked with two creative collaboraters — makeup artist Sringa Syam and photographer Anita Kamraj. “Our country is an epitome of diversity in all aspects. But we don’t embrace it too often. We work towards social acceptance and inclusion in the fashion retail industry,”says Charu. She has worked with transgender and vitiligo women for this and have two more photoshoots coming up with differently-abled models sporting her collection. With 23,600 followers on Instagram and 5,568 likes on Facebook, the objective was to establish a sense of bonding, inclusivity, and acceptance in the society.  `3,000 onwards.

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