Definitely unique in the world of Indian fashion, MV Chandrashekar's clothes are not for the meek or the fashion novice. His clothes are for the clothes-horse that revels in the construction of the garment, the fabric and that touch of madness that Metaphor clothes - Chandrashekar's brand - seem to possess.

The clothes at Metaphor have a personality of their own : blouses that have hoodies, bright pink dresses that end haphazardly, or even sarees that seem to be created to confuse.

Chandrashekar is not a formally trained designer but is skilled in pattern-making, he takes a fabric and uses it pushing the limitations of that fabric. He likes to battle with his fabrics: he pressure-cooks them, boils them and freezes them, all to play around with the thermo-plasticity of textiles.

All the clothes in the store go through a process of constant evolution. "The primary idea behind my store is to be a zero-waste production unit, which means not even wasting the inherent qualities of the fabric” said the designer. “I use different temperatures to manipulate the structure of the textiles, recycling unsold garments, changing their design and making excess material into jewelery, braided cloth sandals, stoles and more.”

Chandrashekar is not formally trained, and therefore, never tackles his work from a designer’s approach - he never sketches, but works rather like an artisan by choosing his fabric and seeing what can be made of it.

His approach to constructing garments is most certainly atypical; even the most pedestrian of ideas, for instance, a top having three holes – for the head, arms and torso, becomes abstruse to Chandrashekar. “I like to fiddle around with the holes. Some garments have two holes instead of three, or an extra hole, which changes the entire look,” he said, referring to his off-shoulder creations. “I see my clothes evolving organically with each person who wears it. Nothing is sketched out or contrived, and the garment lives a life of its own.”

The new wave in Metaphor designs is an unusual usage of differently coloured threads, sown together to create the fabric. “We use a water-soluble material known as vinylon, which when soaked into water disappears, leaving behind the threadbare fabric that is then fashioned into the garment,” explains Chandrashekar. Chandrashekar's clothes retail out of his Pavilion Road store in Jayanagar and he is there most times, meeting Chandrashekar - who is approchable, pleasant and happy-to-chat - will allow you to understand the madness that infuses themselves into his clothes.