Lockdown diaries: Designer Ujjawal Dubey feels centred, says fashion will evolve post-Covid

The lockdown was a much-needed pause for menswear designer Ujjawal Dubey, a time to reflect and chart a new path forward. “This time has really centred us,” the designer told ET Panache. “With time stopping and space being limited, it has given us the opportunity to analyse what we have been doing and how we have been working.”
He added: “What we have realised is that this lockdown has not frustrated us, be it in terms of business or just being stuck in one place. The idea that we are being able to be there for our people, both financially and emotionally, indicates that our ways of running the business were in the right direction because it was never just about the business and always about the people too.”

What’s next for fashion?
Dubey, who resumed work earlier this week, believes that fashion will evolve post the pandemic to reflect changing sensibilities and a growing awareness. “(As a company) we have always focused on being conscious but worldwide, (even) this idea of consciousness will evolve.” According to the designer, this period of contemplation and isolation will shift the collective consciousness of the world in a more positive direction.

Asked how he’s prepping for the change, Dubey said, “I don’t think it is a change that one can be prepped for.” Instead, the designer is focusing on staying centred, not being too moved by the good times or the bad.

One way he kept centred during the lockdown was by working with the Robin Hood army of volunteers. “I joined the organisation to spend a few days distributing and organising the distribution of food for the underprivileged in my surrounding areas. I felt privileged to get an opportunity like this so I took it on immediately. I believe anyone who got such an opportunity would do the same.”