The sari is the exact opposite of the undergarment, says Swati Gautam. She runs Necessity, which makes bespoke brassieres.
“The sari can be draped any which way, but the bra has to fit the body exactly. And every body is different.”
This is the idea that led to Necessity, but Gautam also makes “destiny” responsible.
Necessity makes customised bras for each client. But it also has such a wide range of sizes and shapes on its shelves that many walk-ins result into happy fitting.
Gautam, a political science graduate from St Xaviers, got into the business partly by chance. She started off as a fabricator for a well-known brassiere brand in the early Nineties, stitching together cut pieces with the help of a team. Soon she was making her own stuff, following standard market sizes, and selling them to Gariahat hawkers.
full cup and winged broad straps for shoulder comfort
This business model did not work. Then one day she got a call from a woman who was a senior employee of an MNC.
“I have a big cup with a small waist,”
she told Gautam. Market brands did not fit the caller; she travelled the world and wanted to look and feel good and asked Gautam to make her a customised bra.
That was the turning point. Gautam did the customisation. Soon she began to get more clients through word-of-mouth.
“The market offers sizes from 28 inches to 42 inches, 44 most,” she says. She starts at 26 and ends at 48, with at least five cup sizes for each measurement. The bra in market sizes will not fit everyone because the cup size may vary greatly and not fall into the standard pattern.
The numeral is only the measurement of the underbust waist, she says. “The letters A, B, C etc. denote the cup size.
It is not an absolute number, but the ratio between the bust and the underbust waist,” Gautam explains.
A 26A will denote the minimum cup size that a woman with a 26-inch underbust waist can have. The A in 28A will
denote another number, the minimum cup size a woman with a 28-inch underbust waist will have.
“Nobody will not get her size,” says Gautam. At her stores — there are three of them: at Hindustan Park, Phoolbagan and the latest, at Silver Arcade on the E.M. Bypass — assistants will be at hand to let the client try out every bra.
No bra is sold without a trial. If a readymade piece does not fit the client, the assistant will insist on customising one for the client. Materials used are cottons, modals, knits and nylon nets. The range costs between Rs 300 and Rs 1,999.
“This is about understanding the woman’s body,” says Gautam, who has over the years studied it, especially the
odd, unusual shapes. “I noticed which odd sizes were being stitched the most and put them on the shelves,” says
Gautam. Odd is not really odd.
Gautam’s Silver Arcade store is littered with slogans about women. Taking off a wet sports bra is cardio, claims one. She wants women to be comfortable, supported and empowered.
Necessity is the mother of invention.
Model: Pallavi Debnath and Pooja Karmakar
Make up: Nabin Das
Photographer: Rashbehari Das