Varuna Jeetun: Climbing the success ladder

Indian business tycoon Dhirubhai Ambani once said: “If you don’t build your dream, someone else will hire you to help them build theirs.” 27-year old Varuna Jeetun made it to the top in design despite fierce competition. Her dress impressed the members of the jury at the Miss Eco International. The passionate and creative Varuna expresses her joy and narrates her journey to success. Varuna Jeetun is on cloud nine. She has overcome challenges and her first attempt in the world of glitz and glamour proved successful. Last September, the fashion designer started creating ecological and recycled clothing for the Miss Eco International pageant. “It was my very first attempt and a successful one at that. Beauty contests exist since a very long ago and we cannot overlook fashion when we speak about them. Miss Eco is about beauty at the service of nature, and what I brought forward is fashion at the service of nature. Recycling is a revolution all around the world, even in the fashion industry. But in Mauritius, it is not so popular and appreciated,” she shares. [[{"type":"media","view_mode":"media_large","fid":"16685","attributes":{"class":"media-image wp-image-28207 alignleft","typeof":"foaf:Image","style":"","width":"255","height":"332","alt":"varuna-designs"}}]]Her journey started at the first edition of Miss Eco Mauritius and Rodrigues in September 2015, where she made 12 recycled dresses using old newspapers and magazines. For the final of Miss Eco Mauritius, she designed 12 beachwear complemented by recycled sarong and hats. She used leftover fabric, jute from rice packaging, plastic, and old newspapers. Moreover, for the final of Miss Eco Universe in Egypt, the passionate designer created two official recycled dresses. Till date, she has presented seven collections.

Passion for fashion design

Varuna was inspired by the world of fashion through her mother. Since a very young age, she saw her mother sewing as she is a dress maker. “Throughout my whole childhood, during school holidays, I played and helped my mother in her work. I took on basic sewing automatically. What pushed me to learn sewing is when my mum used to stitch for me and my sister. She would not allow us to wear short and tight clothes. I used to tighten and shorten my clothes without it getting noticed. As I grew up, I realised that knowing the basics was not enough, so I chose to study fashion. I cannot go without fashion,” she avers. She joined the University of Mauritius and for seven years, she has been working as an educator. Varuna explains that she has been working hard and with perseverance so as to overcome all the challenges she faced. “I have been spending a lot of money and time on my creations. The fashion industry is one where investments are a big issue, and for people like me, it is very difficult to struggle and stand up to face the fierce competition/competitors who have more financial means. Besides, eco dresses have a limited lifetime. Being extremely fragile, much care had to be taken when handling the garments.” Varuna is a dedicated person and has excelled in her studies. She was awarded best student for her batch at the university and topped her batch. Her first collection got her the award of Best young designer in 2011.

Future plans

The young lady believes that the fashion industry has much prospect in Mauritius. “There are prospects but one should build their reputation and project their capabilities first. There is a lack of quality outfits locally. We have a very long way to go to match other countries, but we do have very talented Mauritians and if mindsets change, then we would be able to focus on a brighter Mauritian fashion industry.”