By Tenzin Pema
Delhi, Dec 12, 2009: Tibetan fashion designer Kelsang Tsomo on Saturday unveiled her store, LAKAR, in a move that makes available to Tibetan fashion enthusiasts, the best Tibetan couture for the very first time. Kelsang’s creations combine the traditional and the modern, bringing into life an identity that epitomizes Tibetan fashion today.
“I have enriched our traditional wears in a manner that allows me to retain its touch, so that there is comfort, pride and most importantly, a unique sense of identity for the person wearing my creations,” said Kelsang, who is based in the south Indian city of Bangalore.
The Tibetan fashion world is still seen as an unchartered terrain by many, and yet, Kelsang was by far the first to test this unfamiliar ground, after studying a course in fashion designing and then interning with Anna Singh, a Bollywood fashion designer. Kelsang has come a long way since then and has single-handedly given birth to a successful business, making it possible for others in the community with similar passions to tread this path.
“I’m happy to see that some Tibetan professional couture designers are coming up in the fashion world while keeping the traditional values, and Kelsang’s LAKAR designs is one of them,” said Tashi Wangdu, Secretary, Bureau of His Holiness the Dalai Lama, New Delhi.
While Kelsang has already showcased her LAKAR designs around the world through fashion shows in Canada, U.S. and India, opening this boutique in Delhi will definitely help buyers to gain easy access to her creations, avers Tashi, who was also the Chief Guest at the opening of Kelsang’s store LAKAR.
LAKAR designs make up Kelsang’s creations till date, each of which represents the acme of style, creativity and uniqueness. For this proud Tibetan designer, LAKAR gives her a sense of identity and a passion to continue creating that identity for others. LAKAR, Kelsang says, embodies her dedication to the people of Tibet — both inside and outside Tibet.
Each design, she says, is precious and unique, and is created by paying enormous attention to detail and through sacrificing a great amount of time and care; this, Kelsang says, is done in order to fulfil her desire to make people feel and look good while wearing her creations.
Chief Guest Tashi lauded Kelsang’s efforts to promote Tibetan values in her creations and for participating in the development of the community. “We live in a free and democratic country, so it is important to have modernization and competition for the development of our society. We, therefore, need more professionals in different fields,” he said.
But life was not without challenges for this young designer that started from scratch. There were difficult days, Kelsang says, and with no godfather or godmother to help her climb the ladder in the fashion business, the young entrepreneur was forced to rely on her instincts and turn to books of great
personalities for inspiration.
“In the end, I wanted to create my own history, and this gave me the strength to withstand the hardest of times so that the end result is the epitome of perfection and quality,” Kelsang said.
The future, too, will bring additional hurdles, and the biggest challenge today is the lack of fashion awareness in the Tibetan society, Kelsang opined.
“We don’t have professional models, choreographers, sponsors and so on,” Kelsang noted. Having started the fashion scene in the community, she has felt the weight of her responsibilities through the years and continues to do so.
Still, every problem, Kelsang believes, can be overcome through hard work and perseverance. An optimistic Kelsang adds that she is very positive about the state of Tibetan fashion. “I urge everybody to participate in our efforts to make you look good,” she said.
In the near term, Kelsang hopes to expand her base to more places such as the U.S., Canada and Europe. For the longer term, however, the Tibetan stylist visualizes a place for herself and her creations in a free Tibet.
Originally from Kollegal Dhondenling Settlement in South India, Kelsang previously served as a social worker in the settlement for nine years.
