5/9 at Trupsel Mumbai

I am thrilled to present 5/9 at Trupsel to you. A western clothes brand by 2 Indian designers and entrepreneurs: Trupti and Preeti. Trupti and Preeti are talented and power sisters from Mumbai. They have had Trupsel, an Indo-western fashion brand for formal wear and Trupsel has already been an established popular brand in India. 5/9 is a sister brand of Trupsel which is more for everyday wear. Here is how the 5/9 brand came to realization with the words by Trupti, one of the sisters and founders.

We wanted clothes that are stylish, slightly edgy and hip, but most importantly those that offer all of the qualities above with an affordable price. There is a gap in the market for well priced contemporary western wear, which we are hoping to address with 5/9. We had many people walking into our store and admiring how we dress on a daily basis so we decided to start from that premise and the idea just grew and became 5/9, which actually is our address. It’s 5/9, Grants Building. The name had a nice ring so we decided to go with it.

How did I get so lucky to model for Trupsel’s new line 5/9? The short answer is that my American friend, Rachel, in Mumbai connected me with Trupti and Preeti. Trupti and Preeti wanted to use regular people as their models so that their customers can relate to their clothes and brand. Rachel saw Trupti and Preeti’s new clothes, heard their ideas and told them that she knew someone who would be a good model for them. Then it went forward very quickly.

Trupti and Preeti are the sweetest ladies. My friend, Rachel, told me that they were super nice when she had introduced us to each other and she was right. They are down to earth, sweet, easy-going and fun. If you go to Trupsel’s store, you will get to meet them there. Preeti studied design in New York. She acquired graphic design skills which she uses in the Trupsel’s business. She had worked in the textile industry and helped her clients chose curtains and furniture fabric for home in the previous career. Trupti helped her family business and handled clients for the printing business previously. One day Trupti and Preeti decided to start their own fashion line and Trupsel was born.

I was one of 3 models who modeled for the very first collection of 5/9. The photographer who snapped for 5/9 is talented and amazing Anthony of Anthony JDS.com. He was a great photographer to work with from a model’s perspective. He made the models feel comfortable with his very gentle and kind demeanor. I am usually behind the lens, so I know how it is to photograph people as well as clothes. He is well experienced in fashion photography. I could tell that he understood the design of clothes, lines and flow of fabric in photography. While the focus was on each clothing item to capture its unique beauty, he managed to capture the best angles of models, allowing them to look as natural as possible. This requires skills as a photographer. That is challenging especially using models who are not professional like myself. I was very impressed. Then I saw the outcome and I was blown away.

The photo shoot for 5/9 was my very first experience with a fashion photo shoot done by a professional photographer. I have dreamed of that day for many years, but I had never had the opportunity. Needless to say that I was over the moon to be asked to model for 5/9. I did my own hair and makeup that morning of the photo shoot. I usually don’t wear foundation, so I was not wearing any on the day of the photo shoot, either. I applied cheeks, eye makeup and lip gloss. I would say that the final products of the photography show quite natural look of me. I’m tall, but I’m not as tall as many models. I’m not stick skinny. I’d say I’m quite average among Japanese women. I don’t have a distinctive look like many models do. On top of that I’m 40 years old. If you think I look good, that is thanks to 5/9 clothes.