Shumit Basu is someone to keep an eye on here. His designs are an elegant marriage of period-inspired designs in fun and funky rubbers and other modern materials. After seeing his latex fashions displayed at The Baroness’ parties and at my own Celtic St. Patty’s event last year, I’ve been interested in seeing more. After ten years of designing, Shumit recently launched his website featuring his line of luscious corsets, The Underground Aristocracy. We were excited to quiz and question him about more!

SHUMIT: I have been a bit concerned about the length of the name, it is something of a mouthful. The idea behind the name reflects an attitude I’ve sometimes perceived in the gothic scene that gothic people are somehow more special and deserving than other sorts of people. Kind of like “if only I was living in the 17th century...” So in a sense, the gothic scene represents a sort of modern day aristocracy, but as no one else might agree with this, it’s underground, hidden from sight. I have considered using my own name, but I think I’ll save that for some future project.

SHUMIT: I’ve been interested in clothing for most of my life, and by highschool it seemed an obvious choice to go into fashion design as a profession. I have always wanted to design under my own label, and as I found myself sort of between jobs, it made sense to take advantage of the resources available in NY as well as the e-business opportunities afforded by the internet.

SHUMIT: I studied fashion design and construction at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, which provided me with a good understanding of how to design, retain my sense of creativity (unlike some NY schools, SAIC is not very commercialy oriented–a good thing from an artistic point of view, though sometimes a bad thing from a business point of view), and actualise my ideas from a sketch to the finished garment. I followed this up with a brief course in illustration, costume history, and computer aided design at the London College of Fashion. Studying in London was motivated primarily by a desire to better understand the fashion industry from a European perspective, and to find a position with a British design company. Unfortunately after my six month visa expired, I was unable to get it renewed. Immigration had discovered my scheme to seek employment in England, and summarily had me sent back to the US with a warning not to re-enter the country anytime in the next six months or so. Moving to NY was the natural decision to make as at least here I don’t have to worry about obtaining a work permit. Since I have been living in NY, I have taken classes at the New School in computer graphic design applications, and classes at FIT on running a small business.

SHUMIT: Currently it seems to be easier to start a business with a niche market rather than going into general women’s wear, which is where my true interest lies. Corsets are quite popular right now, and there are only so many businesses that manufacture them. I specialize in fashion corsets that are meant to be worn as a garment in their own right, rather than as simply a foundation garment. New York has relatively few other corset designers, particularly those who can make custom corsets, so this seemed to be a good thing to get into. I’ve also been rather fascinated by the complexity of corset construction and the effect wearing a corset has on the body. It’s interesting to make garments that have pieces of steel sewn inside them, and that are capable of almost supporting themselves without the need of a body. I like the idea of creating garments that have such strong historical connections–one reason why many of my corset designs are inspired by styles fashionable in the 16th and 17th centuries.

SHUMIT: Eventually I would like to open my own store, but in the more immediate future I’m concerned with expanding the on-line catalogue, and finding retailers that will stock my work. I think some people may prefer the convenience of ready-to-wear corsets. I would also like to go beyond corsets into other areas of women’s and men’s wear. I think of my clothes as being gothic, but I wish to expand the concept of what constitutes gothic attire, and I would like it if my clothes appeal to a broader group outside the gothic and fetish scenes.

We wish you the best of luck, Shumit.