Nisshka stands for the youth, colour, vibrancy, happiness, dreams and everything positive that a young girl looks forward to. She loves mixing Indian elements in fun flowy silhouettes. Daughter of veteran designer Neeta Lulla, Nisshka believes in carving her own niche in the world of fashion.

How was your experience at the Blender’s Pride Magic Nights six-city tour?

It was a good tour. But I was part of only Mysore and Bhubaneswar trip. It’s great to see that fashion is reaching the small towns and I find people in these places very inquisitive and keen. People here turned out to be well-organised and I really had a good time presenting my collection.

Your collection is fun and flirty party wear? Tell us a little more about it.

I presented a line of 13 outfits. Since it was a Blender’s Pride event and the theme was partywear, I used a lot of bold, bright and candy colours. I designed flirty dresses, skirts, and tunics in pleated nets, Lycra, georgette and chiffons combined with Indian floral motifs and embellished them with bright sequins. It was a prêt partywear and I used new textures like leather sequins and cutwork motifs and fun shapes on the outfits. The cuts are flowy, with leather cutwork, colorful graphics on base.

Your mother Neeta Lulla is well-known designer having won four National Awards. Do you feel the pressure of filling into her shoes?

Honestly, speaking I am not an ambitious designer. I am enjoying my work at the moment. I love what I am doing now and I consider designing more to be my hobby than profession. Comparison with my mother Neeta Lulla is obvious and inevitable, but I do not get bothered with that. I am going by my heart’s calling and my competition is with myself. I am trying to get better and better each day and putting my best foot forward.

In what ways your mother has inspired you? Do you consult with her while working on a collection?

Everyone has his or her own style and mine is very different from my mother’s. In reality we are very different from each other and most of the times she doesn’t agree with me and vice versa. It was always on the back of my mind that I want to be a designer like her. I have grown up watching her and always wanted to be like her. I used to go out for shoots with her and thus it became a part of me.

It must have been great to win Creative Excellence Award for the Barbie all Doll’d up show at the Lakme Fashion Week 2009. How did it feel to receive such an honour and design an outfit for Barbie for her 50th Anniversary?

I was overwhelmed. I had been designing clothes for Barbie dolls ever since childhood and designing an outfit for her 50th birthday was a wonderful opportunity. I was very new that time and I was delighted to win the award. Katrina sported the Barbie outfit what more could I want.

How was it presenting you collection in the kids fashion week?

Designing for kids is a sheer joy because kids can give you honest opinion of what you design. They have very strong likes and dislikes. They have very cute expression on their faces when they like something. So I just love designing for them.

You clientele has a number of celebrities like Katrina Kaif, Genelia D’souza,Amisha Patel and others. Who is your favourite among them?

Every celeb is different and has got her style of her own. While Genelia is really funky, Amisha has pretty face and loves cute pinks. Each of them carry themselves very well, so I do not have any favourites as such, because it’s really fun to put together different looks for different people. It’s fun dressing up and creating variety of looks, that’s the best part of part of my job.

Who according to you is best-dressed celeb and who needs a stylist immediately?

I feel Katrina, Deepika and Sonam have extremely good style, but I don’t think there is anyone I can say is worst dressed because everyone nowadays is conscious of his or her image and has a stylist.

Who are the celebs you would like to dress up?

I would love to dress up Kareena in Bollywood and international celebs like Katy Perry, Shakira and Jennifer Lopez and a lot others.

Who the designers you are inspired by?

Manish Arora, Malini Ramani, Versace, Dolce & Gabbana and lot others.

What’s your fashion forecast for the coming months?

Fashion in the coming season would have more of over-sized clothes, layering in subtle tones. A-lines, flares with pockets would be in. A lot of sea and coral colours would be in.

You have designed for Love you Mr Kalakar but after that we did not hear much about you working for films?

In fact, I have designed for two Hindi and 13 Tamil films. Currently, I am working on the look for Rock the Shaadi starring Genelia and Abhay Deol and there are five other movies for which I will be designing, but I can’t talk about it now.

After Blender’s fashion event what will you be working on?

Lakmé Fashion Week is coming up in August and I am very busy with that. You shall soon get to what’s there in my ensemble.

How would you describe your label and your personal style?

My style is extremely feminine. I love the pink colour right now and one can find an assortment of bohemian chic apparels — skirts, trousers and shirts with patterns — in my label. My personal style too is very girly. I love colour blocking on fabrics, love wearing dresses, skirts, maxis and shorts.

Would you like to design for men?

Oh no, I would never do that. I feel too girly and I don’t relate to men’s fashion.

What are the few things that can instantly make one look like a diva?

Each woman must have a black dress that she can dress up and dress down. For instance, at work she can tone it down and keep it simple for partying she can jazz up with accessories and by applying make-up. And a pair of pink heels is a must-have as they are really cool.

She is coming-of-age designer who knows how to get her style right by mixing the ethnic with the contemporary. Muted shades, silhouettes which are edgy yet minimal are the way she puts together her designs. Here’s what she had to say.

How was your experience at the Blender’s Pride Magic Nights six-city tour?

Oh it was quite an exciting experience. It was the first time I went touring in small cities. I had an absolutely magical time presenting my collection as I got a very good response from the crowd wherever I went. We took fashion to small towns and the best thing was that people in these places readily accepted our collection and appreciated us.

Tell us about the two sequences black, white and grey and the one inspired by tribes. Why did you choose these two themes?

I presented my collection in two sequences. The first was a black, white and grey sequence – that was inspired by the contradictions we face in everyday life that could be interpreted in terms of silhouette, colour and texture. The look and feel was young yet urban and sophisticated. The second was a line inspired by tribes. The colour story was very earthy – red, mustard, olive, cream, rust and beige — comprising the palette. For this collection I researched different tribes of India and was inspired by their artistry. I gave a modern touch to these ethnic prototypes. I used geometric patterns, included phulkari, and leather sequins embroidery. Styling was inspired by tribes big bangles, chunky jewelry. Contemporary wear was given a tribal touch. The silhouette was simple with clean cuts. The collection had a lot of gathered skirts, structured tops and soft draped dresses.

How was it working with Neha Dhupia as a showstopper?

Neha understands fashion very well. She is from the fashion industry and she always tries to evolve herself.

Your designs have described as minimal and edgy using traditional patterns in a contemporary manner. Could you throw light into it?

Personally I love to work with India fabrics like chanderi, cotton, silk, georgettes and love to blend them with leather, use 3D cutout textures and contemporise zardozi. I like using traditional art and craft techniques, but in a contemporary manner, I like it classy and quirky. I like to render great fit, finish and form as well as pay attention to detail and construction. I feel they are all important elements of designer clothing. I like off beat pattern cutting techniques and like to work upon surface textures.

You have showcased you collection Wills Fashion Week and other major shows? Which according to you has been your best work?

The most memorable work is the Fightercock collection, which my husband designer Abhishek Gupta and I bring out together. We call it so because we tend to disagree and fight every time we are working on the designs (laughs). But then at the end of the day it is fun and has clothes both for men and women. It is a fun street-wear collection. I even cherish the collection called Shantaram that was inspired by Rajastani culture. Fiama Di Wills fashion show too was great.

If given a chance which celebrity or person would you like to dress up?

I would love to design for Bjork a singer from Iceland, Saif Ali Khan and all the young actresses in Bollywood.

Tell us about your personal style.

Style according to me is very personal and one should go by parameters of comfort. Personally, I love to sport a very casual and easygoing look.

Who are you favourite designers?

I love Suneet Varma and Rajesh Pratap Singh’s designs. I find all the Japanese designers to be very talented.

What are your quick-fix style tips?

An LBD, a big bag, a beautiful piece of jewellery, high heels and nice pair of glares.

What’s in this season?

This fashion season is trendy. Since it’s monsoon go for lighter fabric like chiffon and go for bright and bubby hues. Tunics, churidar with A-line kurtas are in.

Designing apart what else you like doing?

I love watching plays, listening to music and spending time with my daughter Sara.

What next for you?

At present, I am focusing on Wills Fashion Week. I have designed for men and would like to do of it in future.