Chennai
The father-daughter duo — Vimalan Velayutham and Lavanya Vimalan — are synonymous with the homegrown hand-braided leather shoe and bag brand Calonge. Vimalan started the company in 2004 after years of exporting bags for luxury brands.
In the last 15 years, they have accomplished a lot including opening a store in Singapore, collaborating on some exquisite hand-braided leather jackets with Indie culture and making their products accessible online. Their first ever store was in Ispahani Mall, Nungambakkam, and it was an after college ritual to go there and look at those gorgeous bags and imagine how we would style them. For most Chennaiites when luxury brands weren’t available, Calonge offered great quality, impeccable craftsmanship that we had only seen in international brands and needless to say, they amassed a loyal clientele.
I first met Lavanya when I walked for her graduation collection at NIFT and interestingly, she had chosen fashion design purely out of her love for clothes. Her fashion design background is quite evident in the shoots for the brand that she has styled in the past. She has just returned to the company after a sabbatical and spills the tea on successfully working with her father. “I work for my father,” she corrects me immediately and continues, “It’s a subtle but very important difference I understand that the company is his baby and I’m here to help him. It is tough at times and absolutely a breeze at other times, but I understand that he has a lot more experience in this industry. He also allows me to explore my strengths and factors in my opinion when making decisions, what more can I ask for?” she tells me.
Over the years, Lavanya has become the unofficial brand ambassador and I must say after seeing her carrying bags or wearing those amazing shoes, we can’t help but fall in love with and end up picking them up right away. At the Leather Fashion Show held in the city on January 31, Calonge debuted their new collection Scottish Checks designed by Denoit, their in-house French designer and it was a crowd favourite. Even the usually serious models on ramp looked happy. One of the models even told me, “I’d happily take home one of their bags in lieu of my show payment.” So clearly, they are the models’ favourite. The bags and shoes were colourful and fun with trendy tassels and colours. If we check out items on our shopping wishlist, I have to say that mine just got a few more items added to it.
City model makesus proud at LFW’19
Lakme Fashion Week 2019 was opened by Rohit Bal with his Guldastah collection and it was a pleasant surprise to see one of our Chennai models walking the ramp. Preethy Prabhakaran, whose face has been gracing bus stops and billboards for several brands in the city, made us proud at LFW’19. She looked resplendent in a white creation and of course, wishes have been pouring in on social media. If you aren’t already following Fashion Week now, you have a familiar face to look out for. Preethy, you have an entire city rooting for you!
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