At the Piazza del Duomo in Milan, people got to discover an Indian streetwear brand, and a city named Chennai. “It felt good to tell them about my city. A lot of people there had never heard of it. Now they do,” says Akhilesh Ashok, who launched his label House of Sause, with a fashion show in Milan last week, followed by pop ups in Paris, Amsterdam and London.
“There is a lot of curiosity about the label even on social media. A number of people have been asking me if it’s a ketchup brand or a new restaurant,” he says over a call from London, where he is just finishing up an event for House of Sause. Choosing to introduce his collection in Europe, is his way of introducing India to the world. The official India launch will happen later in September.
Originally from Salem, Akhilesh studied Commerce in Loyola College, Chennai. “I come from a family of auditors. I am a numbers guy,” says the 23-year-old, adding that a career in fashion was never on his radar. But during the lockdown, he thought since he has been a consumer of fashion for so long, why not be on the other side. He knew he wanted it to be a streetwear label as he saw great potential in it.
“I am a self-taught designer. I have two designers on board — Asha Sridhar and Shreya Dilip — who help me translate my vision into design,” says Akhilesh. It took him 10 months of conceptualising, and 45 designs before picking the final seven that are part of the first collection titled Prints of Epiphany. The capsule includes oversized hoodies and crew neck T-shirts, deconstructed hoodies, crop tops and caps. He wants these pieces to be conversation starters. The line is unisex, heavy on prints with bold and loud designs.
“Streetwear works on hype culture. For the pre-launch, a few celebrities wear the clothes but people can’t buy them. There is hype around it. And when these clothes go on sale, they get sold out in four to five minutes,” says Akhilesh. The plan is to have limited pieces on sale. In this case, 2,000 pieces will be sold online. The chances of these being restocked are less. “We want it to be exclusive,” he explains.
Cricketer Washington Sundar, rapper Irfana Hameed and Canada-based music producer Yanchan Rajmohan will be seen sporting House of Sause’s first collection. Akhilesh has segregated the capsule drop into two parts. The first part will start selling on the website on September 20. “We are going to see how hyped these get,” says Akhilesh. In the meantime, he is excited to present a global brand with roots in Tamil Nadu.
The website launches on September 15. Houseofsause is on Instagram.
