Mysuru gets its own haute huduga

Even as the fashion scene in Mysuru is getting huge with many youngsters getting into it, it was not a easy job for this 23-year-old Mysuru-based engineer, Kaushal Vishukumar to gain the moniker of being the youngest fashion designer of the city, having done the highest number of shows.  

Over the past three years, and more than 70 fashion shows in Karnataka, Kerala and Tamil Nadu, Kaushal has worked with some of the leading celebrities and actors including Sruthi Hariharan, Shradha Srinath (U-Turn), Shwetha Pandit, Samyukta Hornad, Neha Saxena (of the Malayalam movie Kasaba fame) to name a few. “It’s been six to eight months where I have designed Sandalwood movie projects like Urvi and Darmasya,” Kaushal says.

Sharing the challenges he had faced at a young age, and how he overcame them, Kaushal says, “My dad Vishu Kumar SM, serves as distributor/manager for a brand, my mother Anitha  is a teacher in Navkis Educational Centre in Mysuru and my brother is a marketing executive in Qatar, and also a freelance model now. So at that time, it was a challenge as no one from my family or the people around me were a part of the entertainment industry. So it fell upon me to take the initiative and follow my passion in this field.”

When asked about working in Mysuru, he says, “Obviously, it is a challenge to reach out to clientele. They are a part of the  entertainment industry and that is based in cosmopolitan cities. Working hard and carving my own path was the only option,” he adds.

While Kaushal studied Information Science and Engineering during the day, he attended evening classes in fashion designing, to pursue his passion.
Sharing on how he made move from engineering to fashion, Kaushal says, “I always had a sense of style and a taste for good clothes so it was very easy to take up fashion designing. My parents always supported me so that I could manage both fashion designing and studies at the same time. Since engineering is one of the ways to secure a future, entertainment is a passion. So it was easy to make the transition, and concentrate on both. It was also a choice I made, and I am very happy with it, as I had to put in a lot of effort to get to where I am today,” he said.

The multifaceted Kaushal is a national level tennis player, state level dancer and a state level gymnast too. Currently, he is flooded with more offers of movie projects, but he says, “I had to turn them down as I am now heading to USA to pursue my higher studies at the  Miami International University of Art and Design so that I can expand my knowledge and business globally.”