From Faith to Fashion - the story of Monica Socolovsky

Last week I was invited to the Fashion Show of the famous Argentine designer Monica Socolovsky at Hotel Sheraton. I was impressed by her new styles and creations. Her designs are not just about novelty and innovation. She connects the dress to the body with an enchanting aesthetic taste based on a profound cultural and spiritual perspective. She combines the machine-made fabrics with the exquisite hand-made designs and embroideries of India. Her designs have won recognition and market in London, Paris and Milan among other fashion capitals of the world. She holds her Fashion Shows twice a year regularly in Buenos Aires and also holds shows in Europe.

I was fascinated by Monica´s blend of Indian culture with Argentine glamour. I was curious.
I asked her about her India connection and inquired how many times has she visited India. I was taken aback when she said ¨more than 80 times¨. She has been making, on an average, three trips every year for the last thirty years. She is going to India next week again.

I became more inquisitive. How was her experience with India? What took her to India in the first place? She said it was Faith. It was the call from Sai Baba.

Here is the story, as she described to me:

She started her career as a manager with Bloomingdales, NewYork. She used to get dreams of a Guru from India. The dreams recurred for as long as twelve years. But she could not figure it out since she had never been exposed to India or any Gurus. One day, when she was browsing in a bookshop in London, a book fell on her from the shelf accidentally. She took it up and there was the picture of Sai Baba. She realised instantly that it was the same image which she was seeing in her dreams.

So, she took the next step of setting out on a journey to India in 1979. At the Delhi airport, she was waitlisted for the Indian Airlines flight to Bangalore as 231st. But she was desperate to catch that flight for her meeting with Baba. She did not know what to do. She prayed to Baba. Miracle! Her number moved from 231 to number one and she got the flight !

Sai Baba blessed her and told her that she would do business with India. So, she started Sathya Fashion, the design company and started buying materials for her designs from India.

The birth of Sathya, the company, was followed by the birth of Sathya the new baby. This was another miracle.During one of her trips, Baba told her that she would get a baby. She could not believe. Her doctor had told her that she could never give birth to another baby because of some complications caused after she gave birth to her first child. When she reported Baba´s prediction to her doctor, he said let us see if Faith can overcome Science. Sure it did. She was blessed with a baby girl, whom she named as Sathya. Since the baby was born in Kodaikanal, India, she wanted an Indian passport. But she encountered the Indian bureaucracy which challenged her faith with all kinds of procedural problems. She prayed again to Baba. Another miracle! The owner of the hotel, where she was staying, happened to be a member of Indian parliament and on his recommendation Sathya got an Indian passport immediately. Of course, the Indian immigration officials, look puzzled every time Sathya visits India. They look at the blue Indian passport and the blonde Argentine face and shake their heads in disbelief , unable to comprehend the miracle behind Sathya. A boy child followed Sathya and he has also been given an Indian name, Prem.

Monica´s faith in Baba and her business with India has made her passionate about India. Her eyes sparkle whenever she talks about India. She is keen to promote collaboration and exchanges between the Indian and Argentine fashion institutes and designers.

Here is Monica, exuding Indian spirit and Argentine glamour:


Here are some photos of her Fashion Show:

More on Monica...

http://www.sathyanet.com.ar/summer09/index.html