Embroiderer Annie Titus Mammen crafts an independent line of embellished pashmina stoles

Annie Titus Mammen prefers to maintain a low profile. To the extent that the fashion designer from Chennai launched her first-ever Insta page tambour.1985 just about three months ago. She has never had an outlet of her own to sell her product line. But it is her portfolio of work that leaves you wide-eyed.

“I have always done what I love to do — embroidery, and I remain busy with the orders of my clients,” she says. At a recent event in Delhi where she showcased her first personal collection of exquisitely decorated pashmina stoles in collaboration with event consultant Kajoli Sahgal, Annie says, “These are my first products that I can really call my own; something I could control from the start to the finish. The 53 stoles she displayed wowed the visitors who were privy to her day-long show in the capital and many were bought instantaneously.

After partnering with celebrated fashion designers all over the world for 40 years, Annie has finally introduced her own piece d’art. “I love to do things at my pace now. There is a different joy in showcasing your own products directly,” says the 63-year-old powerhouse of talent, whose product line sells only at Evoluzione in Chennai. “That way, I do not have to bother about marketing, sales or product promotion but only concentrate on my designer creations,” she adds.

Skilfully blending tradition with modernity, Annie says, she chose to paint and embroider on pashmina stoles because she finds the Indian market saturated with embroidered saris and dresses. “Also, stoles are light weight, very utilitarian and easy to drape for all age groups. It can be an important part of office wear or up your smart travel look.”

There is colour, texture and flow in Annie’s stoles. Her creations are not loud or blingy but she uses subtle and elegant colours to connect boundaries between Nature, environment, art and philosophy. With extensive use of hand-sewn bees, insects, animals, birds, flowers, trees and words, Annie’s visually attractive designs are both sophisticated and playful.

Each dress, accessory or interiors that she has enhanced with her intricate designs in the last four decades are and have remained unique. And they had to: Because Annie has only crafted masterpieces for hallowed names such as French couture embroiderer Francois Lesage, Chanel, Balenciaga, Louis Vuitton and more. “You will not find a copy of any of my work anywhere,” she underlines.

In the early Eighties when the first generation of Indian fashion designers such as Satya Paul, Rohit Khosla, Tarun Tahiliani, Abu-Jani and Sandeep Khosla were breaking into the global fashion scene with their creations, the young Annie was silently and simultaneously rising as an innovator with her skilfully crafted embroidery.

A textile design graduate from Mumbai’s Sophia College and armed with a degree in Fashion Design from Philippines, Annie incubated an embroidery unit for export in Chennai in 1982. She was 21 then. Three years later she established her entrepreneurial venture, Tambour, that gained a reputation for embroidery from high end luxury brands over the years.

In 1985 she met the iconic British designer Zandra Rhodes, who gave her the first break. “Zandra wanted a beaded evening wear. I was focussed intensely on embroidery. With Zandra as my first business partner, I learnt a lot, perfected the skill, elegance and sophistication that go with designer wear because such was her requirement,’’ says Annie, who has worked with some of the best names in fashion, retailed at American luxury stores Neiman Marcus, and Bergdoff Goodman, and has a client list that includes Katharine, Duchess of Kent.

“Machines never touch my embroidery. Everything is passionately and painstakingly handcrafted,” she says. In 1993, she started working with Lesage and also partnered with Balenciaga. For Kate Moss’ bridal wear designed by Lesage, Annie worked on the wedding veil while the trousers she crafted for Balenciaga were worn by Beyonce.

Annie has done Schiaparelli bridal wears and specifically recalls a gown with 2,500 embroidered flowers of 14 types done with French knots and needles. For another client in France, she reproduced Napolean’s chair in Louvre. She was also associated with Lesage’s son, Jean Francois Lesage’s projects for the King of Thailand that included redoing the royal guest chambers for hosting Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip.

For the 300th anniversary celebrations of St.Paul’s Cathedral, London, she created all vestments for the event including the frontal altar. They are still in use, she says. When businesses took a hit during the pandemic, Annie was busy embroidering leather jackets for a design house in Italy.

“For all the creative work I do, I never get to see, feel or touch the final product. My core work is exporting my embroideries for bridal wear and haute couture; the clients are all private, mostly veiled in secrecy,” she says and adds, “it has been a satisfying journey for me to get my work into the world and connect with the right people to unlock exciting new projects.”