“Sustainability is being able to sustain the practices that you have chosen. No greenwashing”
"Create heirlooms, not trends" – this philosophy guides Mrunalini Rao's design approach.
URBANITY
Mrunalini Rao
What is your personal style?
I am a saree girl, I don’t leave any opportunity that allows me to wear a saree. Clean hair, a woven saree paired with a corset ( I like to make designs with Indian craft on contemporary silhouettes), a piece of antique heirloom jewellery. Classics are my thing.
What is the most special item in your wardrobe?
A saree. I hoard hand-crafted and hand-woven sarees from all across the country.
Who are your fashion heroes?
Coco Chanel, Christian Dior, Valentino, Anamika Khanna, Sanjay Garg of Raw Mango, Aneeth Arora of Pero.
What are your most favourite holiday destinations?
London, Kyoto, Croatia.
What do you like to collect?
Vintage handmade local objects from different countries, handloom and embroidered textiles, art of different mediums.
Wall art at Mrunalini's DLF Emporio store
What is the most significant gift you have given someone?
A handloom saree from Raw Mango. The book The Boy, the Mole, the Fox and the Horse by Charlie Mackesy – it’s a great reminder of life’s simplest things.
What was the last thing you bought for yourself?
Art. I just keep adding more and more art to my room. I got a bunch of Karl Lagerfeld’s sketches, framed them and hung them all on one wall in my bedroom. Textiles, fashion and art are all I think, eat and sleep.
Mrunalini's home
Do you remember a time when you were happiest?
Many milestones across my career. From winning a gold for my best performance at NIFT, from being an ambitious college girl who dreamt of retailing in the top-most designer stores to actually being one of the bestsellers, walking the fashion week ramp, opening stores in different cities. Honestly, it’s always my work that gives me a lot of happiness at every stage of life. A recent joy was discovering my home’s interiors featured in Architectural Digest and my store in Elle Decor.
Winning the gold medal as a student at NIFT from designer JJ Valaya
What is your greatest achievement?
Being able to identify my design aesthetic which took time. I happened to find it after a few years of work under my label.
Mrunalini comes to take a bow on the runway
What does sustainability mean to you?
Sustainability is being able to sustain the practices that you have chosen. No greenwashing. Not just speaking about it, but to actually practice it. In my field of design, I speak and follow that these designs we make can be treasured, mixed, matched and styled in many ways. The craft is so intricate and the silhouette timeless for you to wear them many times in your own style.
Are you a minimalist or maximalist?
Minimalist when I style myself, but a maximalist when I design and create.
Mrunalini and her sister Manaswini Rao
What is on your Spotify list?
I am not a big music fan. I don’t have much knowledge. But I do love Indian melodies. I like AR Rehman and Prateek Kuhad.
What are you reading at the moment?
I am reading Bobbi Brown's 'Still Bobbi'.
What do you dream of at night?
I dream of making my brand bigger and designs better. I want India to see the art that I can create, beyond the clothes on the racks. I dream of that one opportunity for me to showcase all my love for art and craft.
What are the phrases you use most?
“I believe in consistency. It takes you places”, “I want to make art, not just pretty clothes”, “There’s no such thing as luck, it’s your ability to grab opportunities that makes it look like luck”.
What are your favourite foods?
Hyderabadi biryani, and a decadent moist chocolate cake.
Where do your best ideas come from?
Books, architectural travel, art, and watching the big fashion houses’ shows. Like the recent Chanel show by Matthieu Blazy – I just couldn’t not sleep because I wanted to create something so wonderful.
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