Design diva Ranna says what she thinks<\/p>\n
Eilish Kidd, Contributor, Jakarta<\/p>\n
I ask Ranna Gill if she's ever disappointed when she sees someone
\nwearing her clothes.<\/p>\n
The kohl-rimmed eyes open wider, the candy pink lips tremble.
\nSuddenly this fashion trendsetter seems as vulnerable as a little
\ngirl. Her voice drops.<\/p>\n
"So many times," she whispers. "Somebody very -- large -- or
\nsomething."<\/p>\n
I nod, kind of awed.<\/p>\n
"You work for three months to put a collection together --
\nsketching, designing, thinking, crying, hurting, head aching -
\nnot taking time off, just working constantly, furiously -- and
\nthen your first piece is sold to ... " Ranna hesitates.<\/p>\n
"Just some completely non-descript ... "<\/p>\n
She corrects herself: "Non-descript is good. I have no problem
\nwith non-descript. But some tacky ... "<\/p>\n
Such artistic sensitivities are no surprise in a woman who
\nlikens completing a collection to postnatal depression.<\/p>\n
And Ranna Gill has paid her dues. She studied in her homeland
\nof India and New York and interned with Donna Karan before doing
\na stint at Polo-Ralph Lauren. She has had her own label, RANNA,
\nsince 1996 and is on the board of the Fashion Design Council of
\nIndia.<\/p>\n
So who would Ranna like to dress?<\/p>\n
"Dancers, they are very poised. I don't mean pop-stars -- not
\nred-carpet Hollywood actresses. A real dancer dresses very
\nbohemian. I mean, they can wear a pair of jeans with a big bindi,
\nwith a jacket, with bangles -- I mean it's very fun!"<\/p>\n
And how about Westerners who adopt an ethnic look?<\/p>\n
"They're trying," she concedes. "But you have to do it in
\nsmall doses. If you're trying to wear the kebaya (Javanese
\ntraditional blouse) or the kimono or the kurta (tunic-style top)
\n-- I think you should do it with jeans."<\/p>\n
For a diva of design, Ranna is refreshingly patient with the
\nstyle-challenged. But not with the faint of heart.<\/p>\n
"If you're a bit weak and looking around -- 'oh but what
\nshould we do' -- then it's never going to happen."<\/p>\n
Ranna Gill is here to showcase her clothes at a five-star
\nhotel. Jakarta's princesses of style -- particularly those of
\nIndian ethnicity -- are expected to descend upon the assorted
\nsaris, kurti (embroidered blouses) and Indo-Western ensembles in
\nanticipation of this year's Diwali parties. Word is that the
\nHindu festival of illuminations inspires some fairly competitive
\nsocial activity.<\/p>\n
Ranna's collection hangs on two racks in the room where we
\nmeet. Once I get over the tribal angle, a pink-ocelot print and a
\nfew other undesirable garments, I am sweetly surprised. I unfurl
\na five-meter-long embroidered sari with a William Morris inspired
\n"tree of life" in anchor wool. I lightly touch a bodice in
\nWedgwood blue with white filigree.<\/p>\n
And I'm brought to actually smile at a kurti, with tiny
\npatchwork elements, that has a kind of folky harmony.<\/p>\n
There, a tiny trail of yellow sequins seeping into turquoise.
\nThere, subdued grays, like inky islands, asymmetrical and tear-
\nsmeared. A gentle humor washes through the designs.
\nThese are things I'd like to own.<\/p>\n
So where did it come from, this very particular esthetic?<\/p>\n
What Ranna remembers most about childhood is the color.<\/p>\n
"Fuschia with yellow, with parrot-green, tangerine, indigo.
\nSometimes the colors were so ugly together that they looked
\nbeautiful." (Ah, thus the yellow and red ensemble).<\/p>\n
But actually most of her garments begin with an impoverished
\nhue: "It's from nothing. Its basically from gray fabric." Ranna's
\nprocess involves dyeing or printing the fabric, then cutting and
\nadding embellishments -- such as embroidered arabesques.<\/p>\n
It's an attention to detail that recalls a traditional
\napproach to clothes and a feeling for "craft" that is all too
\noften absent, even from many of the top labels.<\/p>\n
Ranna Gill takes inspiration from books -- a sentence, even a
\nword -- but doesn't care much for television. She likes
\nAlexander McQueen ("Quite a bit frankly.") And she shops at
\nShanghai Tang in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
So what of people who dismiss fashion as an unnecessary
\nextravagance?<\/p>\n
"Oh, bullshit!" comes the pleasing reply. "As anyone who knows
\nanything would know." And besides, she adds, "Money is not an
\nevil. If they have it, good for them!"<\/p>\n
Ranna explains that India has a history of textiles ("Frankly
\nthe envy of most European countries") and perhaps, in this
\nheritage, she has been lucky. She read Archie comics as a child,
\nadmiring Betty and Veronica in their mini-skirts.<\/p>\n
But Indian comics were what really captured her imagination.
\nPeople in Indian in them wear costumes not merely clothes.<\/p>\n
Truly, fashion in India is no trivial thing. Perhaps it is
\nsomething that is imbibed. Ranna knows it: "In our breeding, if
\nyou ask me the truth."<\/p>\n
And how does Jakarta strike the famous designer? She says that
\nJakarta is just like Delhi (but with Indonesians running around,
\nnot Indians).<\/p>\n
"I see a lot of kaftans, people wearing headbands -- It's very
\nbeautiful by the way."<\/p>\n
Jakarta?<\/p>\n
Ranna looks at me as though I'm a moron: "The textiles, the
\nbatik -- it's endless. You could make collections on this for
\nyears."<\/p>\n
Now I'm aware of a group of slim, poised young women arriving
\nin the elevator. Oh dear. Ranna hasn't even started pricing the
\nclothes yet.<\/p>\n
I'm sorry to finish the interview. I have enjoyed talking to
\nRanna.<\/p>\n
In an industry renowned for superficiality, Ranna Gill is a
\ngenuine original. As she herself points out: "You see a well-
\nturned-out woman -- anywhere in the world. She can go so far
\nbut then after a while she does have to open her mouth and talk."<\/p>",
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