Sohan has designs on high fashion

FAMILY VALUES are what keep young fashion designer Sohan Badall motivated to pursue his childhood dream of becoming a top designer and male model. Sohan, 21, of St Helena Village, Piarco, is the second of four children for Dissoondial and Lucy Badall. Full of praise for his grandmother Moonie, 76, Sohan said she inspires him daily and is the reason for living and getting through life’s obstacles. “I give much respect to my parents and most of all my grandmother because the youths are not getting the support needed from the family to chase after their dreams,” he said. “Wanting to be a famous designer and working tremendously hard toward achieving that goal, my grandmother and my parents are giving me the necessary support, especially when the modern-era fashion designs need to be highly placed on the agenda,” he added.

Referring to what the older heads may think about flesh-showing garments, Sohan said he admires how his grandmother adapts to the modern-day designs without objection. “In fact she is proud of what I have achieved so far and has pledged to continually support my endeavours. I am ever so thankful and appreciative of her understanding and I wish that others could follow her example and support the younger members of their families in pursuing their dreams — dreams that would be able to have a positive impact on society at large, whether it be in the fashion industry or otherwise.” Sohan discovered he possessed the art for designing when he was just six years. He never missed a fashion show on television and would always keep himself up-to-date with fashion catalogues from the Americas and Europe. He always found them fascinating and would comment on the designs, sometimes quickly sketching his improvements to the show-cased designs.

He also viewed fashion as a way of relaxation and often sketched designs at home, school or work. “Sketching designs at any given spare time allows me to be relaxed and to an extent, it brings out the best in me. Fashion is being creative, and that is me — creative,” he declared. Sohan believes his talent is truly God-given as he never studied designing techniques. However, he intends to earn a degree in designing. Four years ago, he began designing for his sister, Rupa, and cousins. Now he is in great demand for designing graduation gowns. This final year student at Omardeen’s School of Accountancy hopes to earn his accounting degree, establish a fashion house and be one of the designers for the Miss Universe pageant within the next five years. At a meeting with popular designer Meiling last August, he gained valuable advice and assistance.  “She helped me get into the industry. She also went through my portfolio, describing my drawings as very detailed and expressive — given the fact that I did not have any formal qualifications and training in fashion designing,” he said.

He wants to meet other top designers including Claudia Pegus, Heather Jones, Radical Designs and Peter Elias. Sohan proudly revealed that he was called by Caribbean Models for a photo-shoot and Mistique Enigmatic Beauty modelling agency for a screening session. He strongly thinks that greater focus should be put on the industry. “More emphasis should be placed on the modelling industry because we have the talent and I believe that if the right measures are in place that will definitely have an impact on the tourism industry, making it economically good for the country in the long term,” he said. He also suggested that local designers come together as one, collaborating with each other in pushing the industry forward. “If given the chance, I would definitely grab at the opportunity to bring this to fruition knowing that I have a way of working towards everything I want, never giving up. I am sure that one golden day, with my input, I will see to it that the country’s modelling industry reaches the standard of the Americas and the European countries — maybe even better, who knows?”