Designer Pritam Panda (inset). (Clockwise from top left) Actresses Mugdha Godse, Sophie Chaudhary, Koena Mitra, Malaika Arora-Khan, Celina Jaitley and a model flaunt his creations. Telegraph pictures

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 2: From the quaint coastal town of Balasore to displaying his collection at the haute couture store Harrods in London, fashion designer Pritam Panda has travelled a long way.

The 28-year-old has climbed the ladder of success fast, thanks to his dedication and self-confidence.

Panda, who owns the VKY house of fashion in Calcutta, has dressed top celebrities of Bollywood and many international models.

Despite receiving all the fame and success, Pritam is a typical Oriya pua from his heart. An alumnus of the St Vincent’s Convent School in Balasore, Pritam says he was indecisive about what career to choose as a teenager.

“I was sure I did not want to go for an office job when I grow up although I took up commerce as my subject at the Fakir Mohan Junior College. Interestingly, my sister Payal was pursuing a career in fashion. I was inspired by her to get into the fashion industry,” he says.

While Payal did her course in fashion from Wigan & Leigh College in Calcutta, Pritam went to the Bhowanipore Education Society College in the city of joy to pick up the nuances of fashion. But it was not a bed of roses for Pritam; he had to work hard right from the age of 19, assisting designers at a store in the city.

“My family was going through financial crises during that time. So I used to attend college in the first half of the day and spent the rest of evening working at a boutique. The experience helped me a lot as a student,” adds Pritam.

Luck too was on his side when the designer flagged off his fashion house in 2003 along with his sister. “We had a modest start and our investment was only Rs 15,000,” he reminisces.

Currently, Pritam’s label caters exclusively to high-end designer stores in New Delhi, Mumbai, Hyderabad, Kolkata, London, Manchester, Bradford, Phuket, Bangkok, Malaysia, France, Syria, Dubai and Dhaka.

“I’m very excited about my cotton vintage collection that Harrods will showcase in November and in Al-Zaheer, Syria, in October,” says the thrilled designer.

Talking about trends he says that it has evolved significantly during his nine-year career span. “The fashion scenario has changed completely. There is more and more experimentation with designs,” says Pritam, who has recently created elegant designs based on the special fabrics and patterns of Orissa.

“I actually got this inspiration when I was in Bangkok while discussing Orissa with a client. He seemed to recognise Orissa through Pipili craft rather than anything else! So I started working on designs based on colours applied in Pipili crafts and fabrics used in tussar silk clothing and other woven handloom of Orissa,” explains the designer.

He is, at present, training 52 weavers of the state in order to redefine the traditional motifs and is using a new technology to dye tussar fabrics.

The international designer who keeps coming back to his hometown will be staying here for two more days to enjoy the vacation with his family.

“I’m very emotional and sentimental about Orissa and I love pakhaal bhaat,” he says. He also plans to open a boutique in Bhubaneswar to promote the designers here.

However, the designer’s favourite hobby is to burn out excess calories in his spare time. He is a serious gym addict!

“I weighed 100 kilos as a kid! So, I don’t really want to take that risk now of putting up weight now,” jokes the fashion designer.

He believes that yoga and working out at the gym (he has set up a gym in his Balasore house) keeps him free from stress.

“Yoga is rejuvenating and is the best way to keep the doctor away for a businessman like me,” says Panda who has a hectic travelling and designing schedule.

The young designer has a long list of clientele in Bollywood like, Vidya Balan, Celina Jaitley, Koena Mitra, Mugdha Godse, Malaika Arora-Khan, Tanaaz Karim, Sherlin Chopra and many others.

His international cli ents include Zeenia Albert, Haaifa Wahibi, Tim Winglet, Lissa Unoor.