Here’s a creator who is passionate about turning waste into beautiful creations. Oh she makes lovely earrings and accessories. One look at her craft is all you need to get you curious enough to know the story behind the art and the creator. Here’s the lovely Ruby behind a personal brand “Rubieeh”

• Could you tell us about yourself and narrate your background story? 

I will try to keep it as succinct as possible but I suppose background tales do tend to get lengthy. Anyway, I am Ruby Horo and I am a fashion designer/ merchandiser. I completed my course in Fashion Merchandising from Wigan & Leigh College, Delhi and since then, I have been on this adventurous journey of trying to attach a unique and sensible technique into my fashion designs. I also love to cook, particularly bake; and I play  the roles of a part-time nanny to my little cousins as well as a part-time home gardener. I am an avid reader and a travel enthusiast who sinfully enjoys every creative venture!

The project I am currently working on is handmade earrings with upcycled and repurposed materials. Each design is unique and made deliberately in limited quantities. We make only about 5-10 pairs so that the customer feels the gratification of an exclusive consumption!

• Tell us about your venture ‘Rubieeh.’ What’s so special about it?

Rubieeh– The idea or the concept of it was born long before I actually put it under a brand name. Just as the name suggests, it is a quirky spin to my own name. Rubieeh is very personal, in the sense that everything it aims to achieve, is something that I have picked up as a kid from the time I was born in Kerala and embraced its rich culture to the time I spend here in Guwahati, my home. The geographical transition has played a big role into creating the elements of Rubieeh.

Rubieeh aims and emphasizes on the use of recycled or otherwise discarded/ rejected material to make regular products more appealing, quirky and desirable.

Whether it is clothing, bags and accessories, the point is to take an existing (in most cases, discarded) item and redecorate it into an attractive and valuable piece.Rubieeh is my contribution towards making fashion ethical, sustainable; focus is on slow fashion to retain the style, quality, design of each and every product with no comprise in any of these attributes.

I find my inspiration from the diverse Indian culture –its age old art work, traditional attires and handicrafts.

• How did it all start? What was that one source of inspiration?

The earliest childhood memory which sowed and shaped my outlook towards fashion is of my Grandmother. She always found a creative way of using old things and she let nothing go to waste. This fascinated me the most! I have this vivid and colourful memory of the time she took my sister’s old faded school skirts and converted it to a very pretty hand stitched satchel. Taking this idea forward, Rubieeh became the culmination of such wonderful and simplistic ideas of upcycling and repurposing everyday things that came right from home. What I have added to my grand mother’s idea is that I make sure that every item we create, paves the path towards creating sustainable fashion trends.

“The earliest childhood memory which sowed and shaped my outlook towards fashion is of my Grandmother. She always found a creative way of using old things and she let nothing go to waste. This fascinated me the most!”

Sustainable fashion clothing has been my prime area of work since Rubieeh’s inception. It is what I am most interested to work on, apart from the other products which I sell under the brand, Rubieeh.

• Have you always wanted to become an entrepreneur? 

I see myself more of a creator, rather than an entrepreneur. Entrepreneurship is something I am still learning. It is a necessary skill I need to develop and you could say, I am an entrepreneur in progress. However, my focus has always been on the creative side of fashion.

• Biggest challenges you’ve faced and learnings so far

Each day comes with their each set of challenges. But the biggest is to remain motivated and keep going in spite of the highs and lows. I have learned to take each day as it comes and keep myself focused on the priorities that I have set.

• Give us a peek into your creations. What kind of stuff do you create?

I offer handmade earrings inspired by the gypsy culture and each piece has been designed to give you that sense of a  free and wandering soul! Each design is worked on carefully and like I mentioned earlier, the quantity is limited to make them exclusive. Each piece is meticulously handcrafted turning its very imperfections into the perfect designs. They are moulded with the summer bohemian vibes which never go out of style!

Gypsy Hoop Earrings

 

Red Tassel Earrings

The Endless knot with mixed tassels

I also do freelance designing for women’s wear and am looking forward to work on my collection of (indo western) women’s clothing and kid’s wear with primary focus on using hand embroidered and handloom fabric.

All my products are sold online on a small scale basis. Prices range from Rs.100 to Rs.800/- for earrings which are available on the Roots and Leisure Shop