Fashion design is the art of applying design, aesthetics, clothing construction and natural beauty to clothing and its accessories. It is influenced by culture and different trends and has varied over time and place. In the heart of Guwahati city, sits Mrs Monalisa, in her beautiful boutique shop. She is a fashion designer and creates clothing, including dresses, suits, pants, skirts, traditional wear, and accessories for consumers. She is also skilled at making things by hand such as vases, statues, decors etc. She is also a leading entrepreneur in the field of fashion and textile design in the region.

Mrs Monalisa is qualified in Advance Diploma in Fashion Designing, Resource development programme on Fashion and Textile design. She is a Master Trainer on eco-friendly degumming, bleaching, dyeing and finishing of silk yarns. She also holds a double diploma in Hotel Management and Beauty Management.

Tell us more about your business initiative-Precise Creation.   

Precise Creation is a multi-faced firm engaged in a vast spectrum of activities in the textile, fashion and garment industries. Formally Precise Creation was known as Shibori Creation. Now, Precise Creation basically focuses on garment designing through embroidery works, tie-dye, appliqué, block printing, fabric painting etc. Also, it is a manufacturing hub of embroidered logos, motifs etc. We work on both order and inventory basis.

Why did you choose Fashion Design as a career?

I love creativity and artistic activity. I thought to bring out my passion into the profession and build my career as Fashion Designer as well as generate employment through my venture.  So, I chose fashion design as my career.

What do you love doing in your leisure time? What are your hobbies?

I love to spend quality time with my family. Listening to music, cooking, watching movies and designing are my favourite hobbies.

How is your experience as an entrepreneur?

At the beginning of the establishment, there were some challenges like raising funds, recruitment and marketing. Again in between, Covid-lockdown also hampered a bit to run the business. Thankfully, by god grace, Precise Creation could resume business and is doing well at present.

And also as a women entrepreneur, I feel really blessed as I could stand on my own feet and support other women by providing employment to them.

What is your daily task as a fashion-designing entrepreneur?

To start, I work out the plan of the day, review the order of the clients and create templates/patterns of the design and assign the jobs to the workers. I supervise them during the whole manufacturing process. Lastly, I approve the finished products.

How profitable is a fashion-designing business? Would you recommend a fashion business?

The changing world has a high demand for fashion. The fashion designing business is a profitable one.

Yes, I would definitely recommend others to start a business in the fashion industry.

You’re trained in so many things of your genre, do you also provide training?

Yes, I started my career as a trainer after completing my professional studies in fashion design. I was associated with IJIRA (a central govt venture) and NSIC.

What kind of training does a Fashion designer need?

To become a fashion designer, one would need a Diploma in Fashion Designing or Bachelor’s in Fashion Designing.

What is the biggest challenge in your business?

I feel the biggest challenge has always been consistent revenue generation, marketing and branding of the company and retraining of employees.

How do you handle criticism in your professional life or as an entrepreneur, if any?

Criticism is a part of any profession. I positively take criticism and always try to rectify the criticism if it is within my reach. I believe it will help me to grow my business.

What advice would you give to someone thinking about becoming a fashion designer?

One piece of advice that I would give to future fashion designers is that he/she should have passion for work, patience, consistency and of course creativity.

Can you walk us through your design process, from concept to execution?

 For any design work, I take inspiration from my surroundings and nature and prepare a rough sketch of the outfit or accessories after which the pattern is finalized.  The pattern is proceeded for fabric cutting and followed by the sewing process.  After the sewing process, detailing and add-on of the outfit such as beading, sequencing, embroidering and lacing are done.

How is Shibori different from other brands?

Shibori is the brand name of the products manufactured by Precise Creation. My brand is different from others as I always maintained customized and quality products.

How do you see the future of the Fashion industry?

The Fashion Industry is vast, so there are large scopes of employment generation in India as well as abroad despite the competition and challenges.

You being a cricket player before, will we  see you  playing cricket  in the days to come?

Yes, I played cricket and represented Assam for more than 8 years. I was 12 years old when I represented my state in under-14 women’s cricket tournaments. Also, you may get a chance to see me in friendly cricket matches.

Monalisa Das Chettri has been awarded the Best Fashion Designer award in the year 2004 at the district library organized by Trade Wings. She has been also awarded the Best Fashion Designer award in the year 2005 at ALCHERINGA, IIT, North Guwahati. To add more, she achieved the Best Fashion Designer Award in the year 2006 at Judge Field organized by the International Trade Fair and was also appreciated in the Fashion Show “Silketiesta 2012.”