Designer with silver needle

It’s not always that certificates and qualifications matter because, often, in-built talent paves one’s road to success. Ashwin Mawle, a fashion stylist in tinsel town stands testimony to this

Styling is one of the lines of work where you can experiment a lot, and in such a field, do qualifications really matter? Ashwin Mawle, a stylist from Hyderabad, is living proof that a formal education is not always the rule.

Ashwin rose above the challenges of the cut-throat competitive fashion world purely based on his skills. The talent of experimenting on himself was so admirable that his close friend Allu Arjun asked him to style him for the movie ‘Arya 2’. He was surprised by Arjun’s appreciation and was inspired to work on it.

The model-cum-stylist Ashwin explains, “When I styled Allu Arjun in ‘Arya 2’, I got a lot of compliments, which motivated me to continue as a fashion stylist. The style of the film turned out to be a huge hit and was the most memorable day of my life.”

Ashwin adds, “I love both modeling and fashion; modeling happens in front of the camera and fashion on the other side of the camera.”Seeing his talent in styling, other Tollywood stars also wanted him to be their stylist.

He never intended to be a fashion stylist, and was in fact doing international agency photo shoots at Switzerland. One movie led to another, and Ashwin was soon in the industry on a full-time basis.

“My clients are Allu Arjun, Rana Daggubati, Akhil Akkineni, NTR, Rakul Preet Singh, Kajal Agarwal, Raashi Khanna among others. I try to make every project of mine unique,” points Ashwin, who is fast becoming popular among the famous names.

The actors for the upcoming movie ‘Akhil’ were styled by Ashwin. For this much awaited movie, he used brighter cool spring colours for actor Akhil, who will be playing the role of the boy next door. The colours used in styling blend well with the youngsters of today’s generation.

Ashwin uses different colour palettes for styling, depending on the characters in a movie. He displays his versatility through styles of clothing – from casual to bridal wear, which tends to be challenging. “Styling does not mean using branded clothing; I buy clothes that I like from showrooms as well as from streets. It is how I combine different things together to give an elegant and sophisticated look,” Ashwin explains with a smile.

‘Na Nanaku Prematho’ is the latest movie of NTR, where he will be seen in a British look styled by Ashwin. The film is being shot in London, and describing the styles, he says, “At present I’m working on styles based on the songs. It is going to be a new casual and classy look.”

NTR will sport a raised under-cut hairstyle, sharp coned beard, fabric and designs from London in the flick.Currently Ashwin is in London working on NTR’s movie project. He is planning to open a fashion store in the US with his sister who is also into styling. As a final word of advice, Ashwin adds, “Clothes have to be simple and youngsters have to spend wisely when it comes to clothing.”

By:Chitra Saikumar