Shaping Choices

Yogesh Chaudhary launched his fashion label Surendri to create designs to suit women with vastly different body types and lifestyles.

When did you realize you wanted to be a designer?

YC: When I think about it now, I feel that I always knew it, but it was in high school when it actually hit me. I was a medical student but I could not deny my calling, design, and joined the National Institute of Fashion Technology, New Delhi in 2005 for a Bachelor’s in Knitwear Design & Technology. I realized at an early age that the only way I could perform at something was to be completely dependent on my passion towards it.

From studying medicine to creating your own fashion label – how did that happen?

YC: I was lucky to be born in a family that has always been extremely supportive. My parents could afford decent education for me, and from being the worst student in class to being the best, I think I’ve seen it all. I was always a sincere student toward things that interested me. After graduating from NIFT in 2009, I applied for a master’s course in Apparel Design and Merchandising at NID, Gandhinagar. At NID I won the 'Emerging Designer' award at the Van Heusen Men's Week 2010. Soon after, my classmate Manas Barve and I bagged the Supreme Award at the World of Wearable Art, WOW New Zealand. While I was finishing the final semester at NID, I got through for the GenNext program at the Lakme Fashion Week in December 2011. GenNext has been a trendsetter of sorts for new-age fashion in India. As a platform, it has contributed some of the freshest and most recognizable new talent to the industry. This led to the launch of our label 'Surendri by Yogesh Chaudhary' in March 2012.

Tell us more about Surendri.