Made to fit

Five years ago Lata Madhu was inspired by her daughter’s homework (a simple collage) to start off a retail space like no other. With two stores, an ever-growing designer base and an extremely loyal following the entrepreneur talks about her unfailing support system, plans for this year and how every new day is just as challenging

Then and now
I started in a small way. The only one thing that we were very clear about right from the beginning was that we wanted a retail space that people would look at and say wow! I cannot take credit for the interiors because that’s entirely my husband’s brain child and while initially we were just looking for interesting clothes, we are now very streamlined and are mostly into textures.

Experiments with style
Right from the time I was in school I have always been fascinated by good clothes even though I never had ideas of becoming a designer or opening a store. Even now I would never want to become a designer myself; I am just interested in discovering brilliant designs for myself and others. When you travel abroad there are some stores like the Louis Vuitton apparel store that really influence you. The clothes might not exactly be wearable but they capitalize on that ‘feel good’ factor that just compels you to walk out with something every time you walk in.

Personal style
There have never been any pressures related to always being well turned out as I represent Collage because it’s not just now, I have always been very organized. It’s almost an obsession, something that I think have inherited from my mother. I can’t stand to see the remote control on the couch, it has to be on the table or the tassels of my carpet being walked upon, they have to be set right. This aspect of my nature extends to the way I dress as well. I would never look at the way someone dresses and say this is the way I want to look even if I think they dress fabulous. I would rather

Favourites on the rack
Are designers like Anand kabra and Manish Gupta who are a lot into textures and never disappoint when it comes to being different. Now people here understand that designers who are different are definitely expensive and don’t mind spending that extra buck

On Indian designers
Every time I go abroad I cannot help thinking just how fabulous our Indian designers are. It’s not always a long dress or a short dress; there is so much variety over here. Personally I think we are doing great in terms of fabrics, colours and textures and where we really need to grow is with our finish and accessories

On Chennai
Chennai is definitely a conservative city but conservative does not have to be boring. I have lived in cities like Bombay and Delhi as well and so can definitely vouch for the fact that the people of this city are very chic. They know what they are and know exactly what works for them. They know that being stylish does not necessarily mean being fashionable. Infact 60 % of my clientele would rather be safe than fashionable

Designers and styles
Most of the designers who retail out of our stores (Chennai and Bangalore) are well established but that definitely does not stop us from signing on young designers who are promising. Even with the collections of the ones who are well-known we are now at a position where we can afford to pick and choose styles that go with the store’s design sensibilities. What you see at both the stores is a mix of what I want and what my sister wants. Considering the fact that we never agree on anything you have an interesting combination of two very different opinions.

On exclusivity
At Collage we have different kinds of people coming in. We have young daughters shopping with their mothers, people who are looking for something fun to wear and then again we also have people who are very very specifically looking for something stylish. The one thing that we never compromise on is exclusivity. We’ve never believed in sizing or duplicating styles

On never disappointing
This is where the pressure comes in. We share a very special connection with the people who shop out of the store. Like this good friend of mine who is a very well known dancer, it’s been a most wonderful journey with her and her family. People come in knowing they will always find good clothes and we never want to disappoint them.

This year

• Expect more events. We really want people to have fun while shopping so we hope to have a lot more of them.
• Accessory lines from designers like Protima Bannerji and Rahul Mishra. We are working on our accessories because that’s something that the city definitely needs
• A lot more colour
• A younger store (with fun clothes targeted at a younger crowd) in Hyderabad or Kochi.


Shop at Collage for
Smart chic: Rahul Reddy /Manish Gupta
Classic styles: Priyadarshini Rao/ Rina Dhaka
Bohemian: Free falling/Payal Singhania
Festive looks: Free falling/Rimzin Dadu


Prices start from Rs 4000 and go upto a lakh