To be honest, I really don’t know when I fell in love with fabrics and what is that one point that made me bring Veena to life. Maybe, it was at the age of three when my mother draped me in a saree for the first time. Or maybe, it was during my ‘childhood roles-plays’ when I draped a saree on every possible figure – from dolls to my younger sister to what-not. Or maybe, it was when I slept under a saree for endless hours as if it was my softest blanket, my friend for life, my infinite world.
Having said that, a major influence behind Veena, has been my mother. Her appearance in a traditional saree wearing a bindi, and binding everything and everyone together was my biggest inspiration – it is one of my single biggest reasons why I chose to bring this bond and her persona to life. And call it by her name – Veena.
If it is my mother who has shaped my brand, it is my father -- my sun, who is the essence. He taught me to always stay rooted while I fly to touch the sky. I will always be grateful to him for keeping me grounded and yet enabling me to chase my dreams.
If my parents were my foundation for Label Veena, my husband is the roof. He is my constant source of happiness and motivation. It might sound funny, but I once made him chase a woman in a saree while we were driving on the road, as I wanted to know what fabric she was wearing! If not for his encouragement, Label Veena would have never existed.
To conclude, I shall say that my love for sarees and fabrics is collective wisdom that I have derived from everything that I have seen and felt so far and this includes from seeing transgenders in a saree on the road, to women strolling in sarees on a beach, to seeing pictures of progressive men in sarees in high-end fashion magazines, to young girls wearing saree to their school on their farewell day, to the excitement of would-be brides buying sarees for their trousseau, to a woman executive standing on the edge of a train compartment clutching her pallu tight, to the gift-wrapped saree that a man lovingly gets home for his wife, to a group of saree clad women having a brunch and merrily talking and laughing away. I see Veena in all of them. Veena is this and so much more.
- Priyanka