What referencing really means

It comes to my attention that the term “references” doesn’t sound like a lot. If I told someone outside a design background that sometimes all I do is find relevant reference images and hand them over it wouldn’t sound like a lot of work.

But let me explain what referencing really looks like. When it comes to design, the most important stage is the research that helps develop or enhance the design from something average to something incredible. Manish Malhotra’s team is currently working on 6 upcoming Bollywood movies, most of which release later on this year.

The upcoming films are:

• Shiddat

• Student of the Year 2

• Love Ratri

• Dhadak

• Race 3

• Kalank

Costumes hold a lot of importance when it comes to films. I’ve had to do extensive research into the character’s and the time period the movie has been set in. A lot of this work is taken over by the stylists, however they frequently approach us when they require help with mood boards or digital sketches of the proposed looks. For these sketches, I have found antique periodic jewelry for Indian brides, found hair and makeup references, fabric of the period and overall silhouette ideas. These are then handed over to the graphic designer.

There have been times where we used gold embroidery from the 18th century and played around with the placement on the clothing. Indian clothing is extremely complex. Different borders on saree’s have different names. I’ve had to find references in 15 minutes flat sometimes even less than that, it’s not the kind of thing where you find a bunch of pictures on pinterest and use it whenever. Most of the time, I’ve had to find imagery simultaneously as the graphic designer [Shagun] is drawing out the design proposals. Time is a luxury here so I can’t really take too long when it comes to sending over pictures.

A normal day includes my laptop next to Shagun’s Mac. As she draws out designs, I bombard her with airdrop alerts sending her pictures. A lot of the time I have to edit the pictures slightly and then have to send them.

The coolest thing is when first look tests take place in the office, A look test “is a method of determining the suitability of an actor or actress for performing on film or in a particular role.” Wikipedia (n.d.) However unlike a screen test where the actors/ actresses have to carry out dialogues, a look test is strictly about how they look, essentially a photoshoot for the character.

The reason it’s really exciting is because sometimes you can see aspects of your research in the look tests. I don’t really take part in them since it’s meant for the Senior and junior stylists or the people working in production but prior to the test a rail with the movie outfits is prepped in the office so sometimes things look familiar!