Meet the Two Halves

A language that none understood but a design that everyone stood up for. That would be the best way to describe this bubbly and easy going designer, Madhu Manjari Elangovan. “My design, my life and my relations are as old and strong as monuments”. This twenty-one-year-old has a quite peculiar sense of attachments to monuments and the word ‘Madhu’ which gave birth to Madhula and Madhupraka. She leaves a mark of her own in every single collection she creates.

“Designers draw inspiration from everything but for me, monuments, buildings, and cultures are what talks to me. Ironically these living things tell a beautiful tale that most people fail to see. Well, I have always had an obsession with anything related to fashion. When I was six, I used to go around and pick scraps lying on the floor of tailor shops so that I could create some dresses for my dolls. Coming from a family of traditional weavers, people used to think I was crazy”, she laughs recalling her childhood memories of being a designer.

An average student, she daydreamed of stylish outfits while her teachers were trying their best to explain geometry but alas her heart lay somewhere else. Even though she never understood the mathematical geometry she scored quite some marks when it came to the fashion geometry.
This Kancheepuram born girl knows her way around fabrics and designs better than anyone. Her passion for traditional weaves brought closer to designing ethnic outfits which in turn brought her to EthnoVogue. She explored her style and designs here which were widely accepted by customers.

Madhu’s search for inspiration takes her to various parts of the country and some beautiful stories and this is reflected in her work. She remembers how she walked the streets of Karaikudi for her college assignment. Experimenting with the traditional weave of Kandangi Sarees was something that satisfied the long time wish of the designer in her. She took inspiration from the architecture and culture of the land to create her designs, but her favorite and time-consuming design till date remain the Madula project she did during her college days. Bringing a blend of the south Indian novel ‘Ponniyin Selvan’ and north Indian painting Madhubani. Having to work on learning the style of Madhubani, it took her a month of sleepless nights to get it perfected. What saddens me is that today’s designer don’t find these cultural and historical monuments and buildings of any importance.

When asked what she would like to tell all the people who wish to travel the same path to fashion, this is what she said, “People are losing the essence of the culture in their outfits. Considering it as a costume is not the right way to go about designing.”