Satya Paul (1942-2021) was an Indian entrepreneur and fashion designer, best known for his eponymous designer brand, best known for digitally printed saris in India. He is known as “the man who reinvented the sari”. He passed away on January 6, 2021, in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu due to age-related illnesses.
Wiki/Biography
Satya Paul was born on Monday, February 2, 1942, in Laiya, British India (now part of Pakistan); he died aged 78. His zodiac sign is Aquarius. After Partition in 1947, his family left Laiya and moved to New Delhi. Satya Paul has never taken a course in fashion design. He is self-taught. Talking about the same in an interview, he said,
I had to educate myself on design and quality because I wasn’t content with just trading. In order to provide better quality and design, I explore extensively and help shape the life of creation. “
family
Parents and siblings
His father used to run a small restaurant called Punjab Watani in Delhi’s Sarojini Nagar.
wife and children
His wife’s name is Santosh. His son Puneet Nanda is the co-founder of designer brand Satya Paul. His daughter’s name is Richa Nanda.
Satya Paul and his wife
Satya Paul’s son Puneet Nanda
Satya Paul’s daughter Richa Nanda (left) and a relative
Religion/Religious Views
In the 1970s, he began his spiritual journey following the philosopher Jiddu Krishnamurti. Later, he took away the sannyasa from the religious leader Osho. Satya, a Zorba Sannyasin, joined Rajneeshpuram along with his wife Santosh and children Richa and Puneet. Rajneeshpuram) commune, a religious community of Osho. After Osho’s death in 1990, Paul did not look for a new leader, but he discovered Sadhguru in 2007 and began following him. In 2015, he began living at Isha Yoga Centre, a spiritual organization founded by Sadhguru Jaggi Vasudev in 1992 near Coimbatore in Tamil Nadu.
Profession
After moving to Delhi in 1947, his father opened a small restaurant called Punjab Watani in Sarojini Nagar, where Satya Paul worked as an errand boy. Speaking about it in an interview, he said,
My father and I started from scratch and ran a restaurant in Sarojni Nagar (Delhi), which was already quite famous. The struggle was fierce. From that point on, I decided to go into the textile industry as I thought it would reduce my taxes, although the days ahead were equally challenging. “
Later, he opened the Albany Cafe. Cafés became places where artists of the era would hang out and have long discussions about art, philosophy, politics, and current events. Some of these artists include Arjun Dev Rashk (film writer) and Jagjit Singh (singer). Puneet Nanda said in an interview,
He (Satya Paul) created the Albany Café for artists to hang out. I remember hearing that they once told Jagjit Singh, if you want us to listen to you, bring whiskey! “
By the mid-1960s, the pressures of the café business prompted him to seek other avenues of trade, and it was then that he stumbled upon textile retailing. In 1965, he obtained a copycat mall franchise from the government and opened a store retailing men’s and women’s clothing and home furnishings. By 1967, he dissolved this arrangement and established his own handloom emporium. Paul worked in retail until the late 1960s, when he entered the niche market of Indian heirlooms, exporting them to Europe and the United States. Although he initially lacked knowledge of fabrics and design, he mastered this knowledge through self-study. In 1975, he began trading his designs overseas. In 1980, he founded L’affaire women’s clothing store in New Delhi. L’affaire is known as India’s first sari boutique.
Satya Paul
On April 1, 1985, he founded the designer brand Satya Paul with his 17-year-old son Puneet Nanda. Its product line includes women’s designer apparel (mainly saris, kurtas, handbags, clutches and scarves) and men’s accessories such as ties, belts, wallets, pocket squares and cufflinks. However, the brand gained popularity in the 1980s for its range of digitally printed sarees. In an interview, talking about their choice of using sarees, Puneet Nanda said:
The choice to work with sarees was well thought out as 90% of women wear sarees at the time and we wanted this to be a brand that is relevant to every Indian woman. “
His creations revolutionized the sari by blending Indian weaving techniques with contemporary tones, resulting in polka dot and zebra striped pieces adorned with abstract patterns.
Satya Paul shows off his designer sarees with models in 1995
In 1987, the brand began hosting annual designer shows in five cities in India. The performances featured live Hindustani and Carnatic music from stalwarts such as Hariprasad Chaurasia, Umayalpuram K. Sivaraman and Ustad Usman Khan. In 1990, Satya Paul store was established in Bangalore.
Satya Paul on the ramp during fashion show
He was the first designer to introduce elaborate collections to India. Each of his collections, whether a museum, rainbow or autograph collection, has a theme and tells a story. Additionally, he was one of the first to design concept sarees.
Satya Paul and models promote environmental protection through his designer sarees
By the early 2000s, homegrown brand Satya Paul had 30 stores across India. The brand was acquired by Genesis Colors Private Limited in 2001, after which Satya Paul passed the mantle to Nanda, who took over as the creative director of the brand. At the same time, Paul continued to create the premium contract home textiles market internationally through parent company Paul Salon. Nanda exited the company in 2010. After retirement, he started volunteering at the Isha Foundation. In pre-liberalization India, Satya Paul was one of the first luxury designer brands. It has been modeled by several Indian celebrities including Aishwarya Rai, Mandira Bedi, Karisma Kapoor, Kareena Kapoor and Vidya Balan.
Designer Puneet Nanda (right) and runway icon Mandira Bedi model a Satya Paul saree at Kolkata Fashion Week
In 2015, the exporting parent company, Paul Salon, was shut down and Satya Paul moved to the Isha Yoga Center in Coimbatore, where she lived until her death.
die
He passed away on January 6, 2021, at the Isha Yoga Center in Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu, after suffering a stroke on December 2, 2020.
Facts/Trivia
- The reclusive designer doesn’t like to be interviewed. However, when a media company silenced him, he explained the reason for his reluctance, saying:
There is a current climate of wanting to be famous rather than represent what you do. I want the work to be representative of what I do. I’m not a celebrity wannabe. “
- His Facebook account shows his name as Swami Satyadeva Bharti.
- As an ardent follower of Osho, Satya Paul once obtained the right to use Osho’s signature on the saris he made.
- Puneet Nanda revealed in an interview that Satya loved poetry, music and art. His interest in poetry was not limited to the Indian environment; he also liked William Somerset Maugham, TS Eliot, Robert Frost, Richard Hugo, etc.
- Satya Paul launched his eponymous brand after returning from Osho’s commune in Oregon. He moved there with his family in 1982 after selling his export business.
Categories: Biography
Source: HIS Education