Fascinated with colours, contrasts and handwork as a child, she always found the world of fashion intriguing. She wanted to study fashion designing at a very early stage but had to settle for honours and masters in management instead. She finally got to chase her dreams though, when she enrolled in FID and ALT (Bangalore) for a diploma in fashion. Later in 2011, Mumu Sultana Maria opened up her fashion house Mumu Maria. And although she doesn’t give herself enough credit for it, having won the Best Designer Award of Dhaka Fashion Week 2011, she feels that she still has a lot more growing up to do as a fashion designer.
This week T-Junction struck up a quick convo with the modest Mumu Sultana Maria about our culture, religion and all that’s impacting our fashion scene.
Freedom to choose
In recent years, fast fashion has encountered a lot of controversy because of the garment industry. However, the scenario is somewhat different in Bangladesh because our RMG sector is separate from our fashion industry, which is largely atelier based and has better working conditions. Which is why the prices of our local products are prohibitively high and the majority of consumers in our country actually prefer Indian and Chinese clothes because they are relatively more reasonable. But this leads to the loss of heritage and affects the artisan community of the country.
You are a member of the Fashion Design Council of Bangladesh (FDCB). How is the council dealing with these challenges?
We are indeed facing an array of challenges. Our designers are creative but what we lack is technological support. We are not technologically advanced. The reason why RMG products and designer wear are worlds apart, in terms of pricing, is because the garments sector is super organised and well equipped with technologically advanced tools. They have specialised departments for cutting fabric, sewing buttons, stitching, so on and so forth. And their biggest advantage is that they produce in bulk so their production cost is much cheaper as opposed to our production costs. We do everything manually, employee wages are higher and we produce very little – four to five pieces max of the same product. And all this with very little, if not any, government support.
As of now what FDCB has been trying to do is commendable. It’s trying to promote our cultural roots and heritage through our fabrics and designs to the rest of the world. The council is a non-profit organisation and we have already arranged a number of events to showcase our heritage. The challenge here is to fuse our traditional designs with modern elements so that it can compete in the international arena – something we are already doing.
Our current market is flooded with Indian, Pakistani and Chinese brands. What should our local designers be looking forward to if they are to outdo other contenders in the competition?
Quality and designs should be the main focus here. Our local designers have been doing pretty well; their designs are really unique and beautiful. But we have to remember that it’s a competitive market, and we need to educate ourselves better and take this more seriously. The curriculam and practices in our fashion schools need restructuring and strengthening. Fortunately, things have changed from a few decades ago when parents wouldn’t even let their children pursue degrees in fashion designing because they didn’t take it seriously. But a lot of that has changed now.
As for our competitors, yes they are strong and their biggest advantage is the way they are priced because of their easy access to cheap raw materials and technology. But the catch here is that these imported brands do not pay tax or VAT; if they did, it would be a different scenario altogether.
The media has a crucial role as well. The way Indian and Pakistani products are promoted through their media is overwhelming. Had we focused on promoting and being connected to our roots and heritage the way they are, we would be doing pretty well for ourselves by now. So to be honest, we still have a lot of improvements to make.
The veil affair
Fashion in Islam has been a very intimidating affair. While some firmly believe that the big turban-styled headwear or even wearing the colour red is anti-Islam, others wouldn’t mind pulling them off in a heartbeat. There are other similar debates encompassing certain Islamic doctrines.
What do you think are the challenges faced when designing for Muslims?
The challenge here is to understand that there will always be opportunists to use religion to their advantage. Everything comes with a set of positive and negative aspects but the truth is, anything that’s pleasing to the eye will be considered beautiful. And no religion oppresses beauty.
Can fashion comfortably get along with Islam?
Islam is not against grooming or fashion. Islam is a beautiful religion and fashion promotes beauty, so they should definitely be able to go hand-in-hand.
Will this fascination for Middle Eastern trends have a long term effect on Bengali culture?
Yes it may. Practice is key here. We become good at things that we practice the most. For example, a lot of people, despite being raised here, are not fluent in Bengali. We use other languages for communication so often that we’ve made it a habit. So yes, there’s a chance that it will be here for the long haul and affect our deshi trends.
But then again fashion keeps changing. We may love Middle Eastern trends today and Italian couture tomorrow but if we are aiming at promoting our cultural trends then we have to make it interesting. We have to present our decades old, traditional wear using modern elements to break that monotony.
In the loop
Describe your personal style.
To comfortably carry myself with confidence and elegance.
What are you looking forward to the most this spring?
Something fresh and floral.
Who is Mumu Sultana Maria in one word?
Simple and honest and that’s two words.