Making Leather Lifestyle

Gautam Sinha’s passion for accessory design manifests through Nappa Dori, his tribute to the versatility of Indian leather

Give us a glimpse into your formative years.

GS: I wasn’t the most academically inclined student. At that point I didn't know I was majorly dyslexic and just thought I was a weak student. The best way I could really express myself was through doing creative things like painting or art; forms and figures came to me way easier than doing math or science. So I knew from the beginning I needed to try and do something where I could really have a free hand at expressing myself without feeling below average. After school I tried to get into some of the design colleges I admired, such as Parsons, Rhode Island School of Design. However even after being accepted, I could not afford to go there as at that point there were no scholarships available for international students, especially in the field of design. That is when I joined a design college in Delhi.

What role has formal design education played in your career?

GS: Having lost two years in school since I wasn’t a good student, I didn’t want to wait for the Accessory Design semester to start so I studied Fashion Design at NIFT. I won’t say it was the best thing that happened to me, but it taught me the basics. It did give me some sort of validation with regards to my design sensibility. I believe design sensibilities don’t come from colleges or art classes; they come from within, through life experiences and observations. I honestly feel that the way design is taught in colleges in India needs to change in a big way and people need to see it from a different prism. Fashion Design here has been dominated by the Indian market.

We have had some amazingly talented designers coming up in the last couple of decades but they all have focused on the Indian bridal industry - all the other fields of design are just about getting their time to shine now.