TAILORED.

TAILORED!

A dancer’s costume is what that adds to the aesthetic appeal of their performance, and crafting the same is a god given gift . D.S.Aiyellu, a living legend in the field of Costume designing is one such gifted person. He started his career under the guidance of Sri. Ambedkar in 1944 at the Gemini studios and soon learnt the art form to set up his own independent division in 1946.

His career kicked off when he started designing costumes for Mrs. Vyjayanthimala bali , legendary actress/dancer , from 1950-1970 he served as her personal designer during the same time he also stitched costumes for yester years actress kamala and kanaka. In 1962, he set up his own tailoring outlet at tiruvalluvar street and later moved to his current shop located in Nandanam, in 1971.

From legends to upcoming artists, he has served a wide variety of artists spreading all over the world. If an artist looks perfect on stage , the credit always goes to Aiyellu’s costumes, which make the artists look like sculptures. Famous dancers like Padma Subramanyam, Ranganayaki Jayaraman , Bragha Bassel, Priyadarshini govind ,Alarmel valli , all prefer stiching theirs as well as their students costume with Aiyellu, as they feel he is a lucky charm to their artistic life. Actresses like Revathi , Hemamalini , Shobana also get their costumes stitched here, as they love his perfection. At the age of 82 , he still needles the thread with his naked eye.

When asked him how much time he takes to stitch one costume he says, “ if it is a simple one , it takes half a day, but if it’s a little complex one with Kacham and all, it takes one day for me to finish”. Though he has 5 to 6 staffs working under him, he always prefers to do most of the work as it gives him fulfillment . he also added that , “ I would like to rest only when my soul rests, till then I will serve the art fraternity to my fullest” , concludes Aiyellu. Sri. Aiyellu , received the Sangeeth Natak Academy award in the year 2005, but all those who have been benefitted by him , have a strong feeling that he must be given a “Kalaimamani” in the field of costume designing.