From June 1st and helmets have been made compulsory to wear for not just the person riding the two-wheeler in Chennai, but also the pillion riders. Will helmets spoil the overall look one is going for? This is the question the style conscious are asking.
Here’s how few in the city have let their helmets do the answering for that question. “I bought a bright plain red helmet and got a custom made Ferrari sticker done on it, and now it’s a huge hit on campus” says 20 year old Dharma.

Personalizing a helmet can help motivate the rider and accompaniment to wear the head gear. And this need not mean spending too much time or money. Customizing a helmet can cost anywhere from 5 rupees and takes a little over a minute, to a few hours costing a couple of hundreds. For those who want to go that extra mile there are a myriad other options for personalizing their helmets - Painting, pin striping and even custom designing the look on the helmet to name a few.

“I brought in a design I downloaded from the internet and got it done on my helmet in just about an hour’s time” says Hemanth, an engineering graduate.

Talking about how these stickers are made, Mr. Vimal from S.R.K.M.S in Wellington Plaza says, Scanning the design the customer brings in, or using the software in our shop, we custom-make designs according to their time, money and needs.

Just a little personal touch can take helmets from being just a compulsory safety gear to making a fashion statement or even reflecting one’s personality. “I custom designed my helmet with ethnic patterns I created and now I don’t want to take it off even when am not riding” says a beaming Sharanya and adds on, “in a way it reflects who I am”.