Indian designer Vino Supraja named Global Sustainable Fashion Trailblazer at the British Parliament

Vino Supraja with the award
| Photo Credit: special arrangement

“For somebody who is from the small town of Vandavasi; who did her schooling in a Government school; and had a lot of insecurities about speaking English; to go to the British Parliament and talk about our culture, was a surreal, happy moment,” says designer Vino Supraja. She was recently honoured with the title of Global Sustainable Fashion Trailblazer award at the House of Commons, British Parliament. 

The 45-year-old designer, now based in Dubai, has had a long, fragmented sojourn in the world of fashion. She says that it is not one single moment that led her here. Instead it is simply a series of things that kept shooting at her. “I am still observing where it is going to take me,” she says. 

A piece from Vino’s Therukoothu collection
| Photo Credit:
special arrangement

For a long time, Vino dabbled in media studies. “I did my architecture degree in Chennai and then I learnt animation, and I joined an electronic media course in Anna University.” After a brief stint in radio, Vino shifted base to China. In China, while scouring websites for possible study or job opportunities, she chanced upon only two sites in English. The rest were all in Chinese. “One was a business school and the other, a fashion school. I somehow associated numbers with business so I opted for the other option! That’s my official entry into the world of fashion,” she recalls, laughing. Vino’s graduation collection went on to receive two international awards, and made its appearance in the 2014 Shanghai Fashion Week. 

Then life moved to Detroit — where her collection was walked in New York Fashion Week, and then Brooklyn Fashion Week where she featured a line that came out of the Chennai floods of 2018. It was only five years in. After moving to Dubai, where she is based now, she realised “the dark side of the fashion industry”, as she calls it. “It was a moment of realisation. I wanted my brand to adopt a sustainable path. That is when we started working with the Chennimalai weavers. That slowly led me to London Fashion Week.” 

The ancient Tamil folk art form of Therukoothu has always inspired Vino, especially as she hails from Purisai, one of the main, still-thriving centres of the folk form. “When London Fashion Week came up, I decided that this is the time I should platform Therukoothu,” says Vino. “I went to Purisai and there I met someone who I have admired from my childhood days — Purisai Kannappa Thambiran Ayya. They were very happy to collaborate. I learnt how to dress a character and do their makeup. We came to Chennai to record the audio, and showcased a one-minute presentation at the London Fashion Week before the models walked the ramp. The western world was shocked to see so many colours on one person,” recalls Vino. All these collections are available on the website. 

Her next visit was to Bhavani in Erode district to understand the crafting of the famed jamakkalam fabric. “I could see that the craft was diminishing and many weaving looms were left unattended. Small businesses were suffering. This made me wonder what I can do with my brand.” 

Stripes, solid colours, very minimal — the jammakalam’s aesthetic was decidedly global. “The stripes of the Bhavani jamakkalam are at par with the Gucci stripes! This year we launched the J collection, with bags.”   

A piece from the J collection
| Photo Credit:
special arrangement

With the new, rather heavy moniker of Global Sustainable Fashion Trailblazer, the responsibilities increase. While sustainability has been a buzz word in the fashion industry for the last five years, it is now being overtaken by AI, says Vino. “Now, the dialogue is around incorporating AI in fashion and the chatter about sustainability is taking a backseat. Ultimately, moving to sustainability should be taken as a responsibility by the big brands first.”

Vino is now working on reimagining the Bhavani jamakkalam to make products other than bags. “I want to give prompts to the world, which anyone can adopt and enhance their creativity with.” With fabrics and techniques that deserve global attention, Vino crusades to bring the world to South India, one jamakkalam at a time. 

Vino Supraja