Rimzim Dadu Hardwired To Impress

Like HELLO!, this Delhi-based designer also celebrates her luxury label’s 15th anniversary this year. Driven by her natural interest in metallic wires and cording, her detailed and artisanal pieces are like objets d’art, sought after by non-conformist brides and, of course, grooms. As HELLO! presents Rimzim with her stunning muses, we learn about her journey as a maverick designer, from outlier to sophisticated

- PRIYA KUMARI RANA

It’s hard to believe that this petite designer, who looks like she’s in her early 20s, is about to celebrate the 15th anniversary of her eponymous brand, Rimzim Dadu. Rimzim (her parents named after the Hindi word for ‘rain’ with a stylish twist) grew up in Delhi, where her father ran a garments export business. She’s come a long way since her ‘my village by Rimzim Dadu’ days (as her label was called at inception in 2007, after she graduated from Pearl Academy). At the time, she was part of the fresh, young generation of fashion, with contemporaries such as Anand Bhushan, Kallol Dutta and Siddartha Tytler.

Today, Rimzim has matured, and how! She’s taken her love of colour and metallic threads to new heights with her sophisticated collections, and pieces that are sculptural and look like poured, coloured molten.

“My father always told me to be unique, to do something that no one has done before and to have a voice that’s all my own,” says Rimzim, during a quiet moment between takes at Andaz Delhi. “Somewhere, this became ingrained in me.”

From the get go, Rimzim was not one to get excited over regular fabrics sourced from stores. She’d trawl hardware markets for inspiration.

“That’s when I discovered my love for materials like steel, leather, acrylic and metal,” she says. “But I was always conscious of the fact that my clothes should be wearable and functional.”

And back when she started, when fashion and fashion weeks came into their own in the mid to late 2000s, there was “no commercial pressure as such”, with designing being more fun and open to experimentation.