Buttons of creativity

Back when Anuj Sharma took a piece of fabric to his tailor Munna Bhai to make button holes in it, the chap politely refused saying 14 was the maximum number he had done on a piece of clothing! Munna Bhai couldn’t be blamed. Any tailor would have said no at that time because once done, a button hole could not be undone. And so many punctures on a fabric would have been a sheer ruin. He kept this episode and idea in the backburner for a while. In another six months, he got back to square one, convinced the same tailor to fix that many buttons in that place.

Thus was born the brand Button Masala. The idea of Anuj, a National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT) alumnus, was a bold step in fashion designing. Here was a designer trying to propagate wearable clothing minus the needle and thread technology! His algorithm connects straps of fabrics with buttons, which can be arranged and rearranged at will and designed to suit different occasions, all with the same set of materials.

“The spark was provided by a man wearing a button-down shirt with one button wrongly inserted. I thought, if one button is wrongly put, it creates a variation in the way it’s to be worn. If 10 buttons are put wrong, it generates a pattern,” Anuj rewinds.

Anuj is trying to develop his idea into a fashion discipline, spread it to the masses and make a designer out of every common man. Often, he encounters baffled and hazzled looks while trying to implement his ideas. Once, at the Lakme Fashion Week, a model expressed displeasure wearing a garment he has created and stormed to the backstage. “In five minutes she came back. Rearranging the piece I had given, she made her own clothing, a first.”

He was in Kochi to share his ideas with the members of a women’s collective and to enjoy a cruise in the backwaters of Alappuzha. Four years back, he had taken part in a jewellery/garment show.

Even in these short visits, he had identified the tremendous possibilities of a Button Masala upgrade with our traditional drapes. “Kerala has many good fabrics which allow people drape and therefore they are used to it. Men drape mundu, women swathe saris. It’s not restricted to just one or two type of wear, there are much more to explore,” says Anuj.

What about the affordability factor? “It’s cheaper compared to other designer garments, but expensive as a daily wear. To make it a cost-effective daily wear, people can make it by themselves,” he suggests.

His creativity is not restricted to garments but moves from one material to another in quick succession. In his dexterous hands, a handbag can turn to a cushion cover and the next moment to a trendy gown. Once, Anuj set a record of sorts by making 17 kinds of wearables from the same material in just an hour. Not just buttons, he can make magic with anything – table tennis balls, rubber bands, tossed out paper cups, balloons and more. In 2010, the brand was chosen for the Marie Claire award for the most innovative collection of the year.
Talking about the plan next he says, “I like to spread this technique to many more people, make it popular. I hope people will start using the technique for their own benefit.”