Free Spirited Fashion For The Truly Daring! A Look At Mani Jassal’s Latest “Free-Spirit” Couture Collection

Fashion Designer Mani Jassal is more than just a young entrepreneur, or budding fashion designer – she’s a creative visionary, and her passion for the craft and her relentless pursuit of success is a testament to this.

Keen on being part of the fashion industry at a young age, Mani pursued her dream, graduating with a degree in Fashion Design from Ryerson University. Her self-titled label is hand-made in Canada, and prides itself in its innovative and artistic approach to melding her South Asian heritage with her Canadian up bringing.

From humble beginnings, sewing and designing from her at home studio, Mani Jassal now has a store in Brampton and her clothes are also carried at a PR Showroom in Los Angeles; Joplin Creative.

Her aesthetic is becoming widely recognized all across the world with her pieces being worn by celebrities worldwide; and famously on Canadian red-carpet events like TIFF, CAFA, and ANOKHI. In LA, her pieces have been pulled for BET Awards, Emmy Awards, and MTV Awards. Celebrity and influencers like Ashanti, Nazanin Mandi, Madison Beer, Bebe Rexha, Sonam Bajwa, Gigi Gorgeous are among the many that have adorned her pieces. Her clothing has also been published in international and national magazines like Vanity Fair, ViceMagazine, Play Boy, Marie Claire, and Stardust to name a few.

Jassal creates eclectic collections by diverging from established and conventional standards of South-Asian fashion without completely neglecting the traditional gown. Her newest collection called “free spirit” is a testament to this vision. 

Daniel Pillai: Describe this new collection to me. How is it different from the collections you have created in the past?  

Mani Jasssal: I find that this collection is more rebellious than my other collections through the use of unconventional colors and fabrics, and most importantly the rebellious cuts. It feels more ME. It’s a little bit subtler and more minimalistic than the other collections I have done. As you may know, I love creating rebellious silhouettes like the bustiers but I feel like I had stopped that in the past two collections since a lot of people were saying they were too revealing. In this collection I brought them back, more revealing than ever because they just feel more me and they may not be for everyone, and I’m okay with that! My designs are my art and I was free enough to design unapologetically in this collection.

Pillai: Your collection is dedicated to Honey. Who is Honey and how is he connected to the collection, and each piece presented?  

Jassal: The collection is called ‘free spirit’ and is a tribute to my friend Honey who we lost on June 1st. He was my sister’s boyfriend.  He was a free spirit and he taught us to live life freely and to not give a f*ck about what others had to say about it. You can see that in the collection through the use of colour and rebellious silhouettes. 

Pillai: The collection itself is quite whimsical with a lot of flowing cuts and floral pieces adorning the models. Tell me about this. 

Jassal: I love big flowy skirts and our skirts take about 7-9 meters to make, allowing us to have such a flowing skirt with a hem circumference of almost 9 meters. I think it gives more of a ‘free spirit’ vibe with all that excess fabric. There is one floral fabric in particular that I fell in love with when creating this collection, so I created a Sari, dress and a slit skirt out of it called the La Reve. The florals are on a black satin base making it edgy yet feminine. 

Pillai: The designs with darker colors and more dramatic patterns seem to hold much more emotion. Tell me about your thought process when creating these.  

Jassal: I love using black, it has always been one of my favourite colours to use in my designs from the get go. I have always felt the need to hold back when it comes to utilizing the colour black since a lot of South Asians believe it’s an unlucky colour. I have always rebelled against that concept and wanted to push the box when it comes to that concept. In this collection, I really didn’t care what others had to say about me utilizing the colour since I love it so much. Plus, I find women feel the sexiest in black. There are so many women that love wearing black to weddings even though the Aunties stay hating! In my mind I kept thinking what would Honey say about this? He would probably have said “who gives an F!? Do what you want to do!”

Pillai: Tell me about your daring cuts in the collection?  

Jassal: I did several bustier designs in this collection. The bustier has become a classic from the first one I did in the Udaipur Tea Party collection in 2015. I am also obsessed with slits this season. We have a couple of skirts and dresses that have thigh high slits on them. We have a lot of deep backs as well this season

Pillai: You’ve always prided yourself on being a designer that has gone against the grain. Tell me how you continued this in your “free spirit” collection? 

Jassal: I did it by being true to myself as a designer. My designs are my art and I did not compromise them. 

https://www.instagram.com/p/Biwt9rRlDlx/

Pillai: You’ve just recently opened up your second boutique, tell me about this success as a designer and business woman? 

Jassal: We just opened up a longer-term pop up in Yorkville Village. It’s been a dream come true since it has always been a dream of mine to be in Yorkville. It feels so surreal. I think this is a great opportunity for the brand to get exposure on a different platform and different market.