When she crashed onto the scene with momentum that can only be compared to a snowball, the name which no one knew mere days before, was now the talk of the town; Charu Lochan Dass.
Her début RTW Collection shown at Aria in 2013 caught everyone by surprise, and we love surprises like these. Her high-end (in our domestic fashion market), cohesive and full-sized Collection was something that budding designers struggle to produce within the resources we have in the local industry. Apart from it's aesthetic appeal and impressive craftsmanship, her audience applauded her achievement in jumping this hurdle that many struggle to overcome. Mere months later, Charu opened her CLD boutique at 55 Gallus Street, Woodrook. the official launch attracted stylists, fellow designers, customers, friends and countless supporters. Since launching her brand less than a year ago she is designing the Miss T&T Universe contestants' gowns, and has even dressed the Prime Minister!
I visited the boutique recently, there to meet her and the wonderful clothes. I had to find out her secret recipe to this dream that she has now shown us is real and tangible.
I love Charu. I love her spirit. She is like your best girlfriend, telling you as it is, making jokes and having sudden short-lived burst of anxious thoughts which can best be cured with a drag. Asking her all her business after only meeting her twice was shockingly natural.
We both are quite to-the-point. I asked her,
"How does one go about getting all of this?"
I was referring to all her successes; the store, the racks filled with her own beautiful designs and the wonderful reputation that accompanies it all.
She asked if she could be frank. I would prefer her to respond no way else.
"Money."
Yes! Of Course. Ha! That's the problem. We knew that. I wished that she had some magic trick she could offer me; some loophole, some connection in the business. Disappointed, it seemed to me that she was simply blessed to come from a wealthy family and like all other spoiled rich kids, could have the business of her dreams. That's when it got interesting.
The scenario was not how I pictured it. Daddy didn't hand her a silver spoon to go be Kim Kardashian. Charu delved into her story; the journey that has brought her to where she is now. She told me about taking risks and sacrificing to expand a Mehendi booth she ran at the Divali Nagar while working at a low paying job. She put
literally all her money into it. RISK. She was not afraid to take risks. She really believed in herself. She went against the advice of others who showed her why things wouldn't work. The profit was rewarding.
It was not so simple though. As she grew and expanded with gruelling effort, the work and time invested in growing her booth into stores in different plazas seemed to be in vain with sudden major personal setbacks. She FOUGHT. When it was easy to give up and scale down, Charu found it appropriate to go after her dream, and signed up to London College of Fashion to study fashion design. It was something that she could not have done before due to certain obligations. Instead of focussing on what she lost, she saw that she had nothing more to lose. Life in London also threw it's challenges. Charu had to work to support herself there, switching roles with former employees of her own; doing jobs that had her question the path she had chosen for herself.
When she finally returned to Trinidad, she wasted no time getting her business together. This woman has a DRIVE like no other.
She told me that she never stopped because she knew this was for her. Though times were difficult, there were always doors opening and leading her in this direction. INTUITION and not fighting against what is natural helped her to take every step in the correct order which has brought her to where she is today.
So that's what I learned from Charu. To be successful you have to be realistic. It takes Money. To get that money you have to be willing to take Risks. You need to Fight through the hard times if your Intuition tells you that you are on the right path. You need to stay Driven and never tire.
*If there is one direct piece of advice she gave, it was that a fashion is 90% business and 10% design. Her experience in retail has helped her tremendously.
