From experiments with age-old textiles, fabrics to contemporary designs, young designers are set to take Wills India lifestyle Fashion Week Autumn/Winter by storm. They spared us a few minutes from the last-minute fittings for a sneak preview. By Karan Bhardwaj
MATCH THE MACRAME
Rinku Sobti
label: She started as an intern with a london-based designer. Soon her summer training became a serious passion as she continued working with the designer for a couple of years. She then worked with an export house for a few years and eventually graduated to having her own store in South Delhi. She has participated in various international shows in london, Newyork and Paris. Sobti also started company on her name some 15 years ago.
What’s on the ramp: I am completely inspired by Macrame as an art form. It is a form of textile-making using knotting. In other words it is the art of tying knots in strings. The collection is all about deep colours, pretty patterns created in macrame. Macrame has been reinvented by incorporating it in a contemporary form by embellishing it. The yarn used is jersey.
USP: This collection dismisses the fact of macrame being boring as a lot of textural embellished elements lend an artful look to the clothes.
lUXE PlAY
Shweta Kapur
label: My label 431-88 was started in 2012 with the idea of bringing luxury sportswear to the forefront. While focusing on absolute clean cuts and detailing, traditional seams and darts are manipulated to achieve a constrained distortion. Shweta Kapur graduated from london College of Fashion in 2011. She has since worked with English Brand Burberry (london) and VPl (New York). Upon her return she worked with Nitin Bal Chauhan and Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla. 431-88 currently retails through Evolv, Rudraksha, Anahita, Aura, Amara among others. The label has been adorned by celebrities like Jacqueline Fernandez and Yami Gautum.
What’s on The Ramp: Inspired by Chinese characters or Hanzi, ‘Cut In Knot Up’ focusses on urban wear; the collection explores distortion of classic tailoring in a completely new dimension. Using the shape of the logograms, parts of the garments are extended from the patterns that are further developed into knots. With the same shapes, the angles on each character are used as cut-outs that facilitated the movement of panels through each other. High quality taffetas and satin crepes give the otherwise sporty silhouettes a luxury feel.
The colour palette of moves from electric blue, pop orange, cherry red and coral to a creamy whites and blacks.
USP: It’s about the comfort and style on the go.
DICHOTOMY OF FREEDOM
Chhaya Mehrotra
label: Before launching ‘Chhaya Mehrotra’ in 2009, the designer was doing her family business of apparel and home furnishings. Born in one of the oldest textile printing families of Benares, she has worked across different platforms in the textile and fashion industry in wovens, embroideries and prints. She inherits from her Benaras roots, a flair for the earthy, rich tradition of textiles and an eye for detail. She blends her understanding of the traditional with a forte for contemporary silhouttes.
What’s On The Ramp: ‘Heritage Haiku’, the collection is our small poem about the dichotomy of freedom for women. Ensembles are crafted collection in wool and pashmina, some printed with heritage blocks at Benaras. There is a mix of colours and sihouette that echo the feel of feminity, maturity and strength. Blush pink and blue, blossom orange and brown to black and white...the dichotomy of freedom is thus expressed in colour, spirit and fashion.
USP: It lies in creating colour harmony and using pure fabrics to create stylish silhouettes in contemporary Indian wear.
SPORT THE GlAM
SAAJ by Ankita
label: Ankita studied commerce from Shri Ram College of Commerce. Having learnt how to work the trade, she polished her creative and aesthetic capacities at the NIIFT, Delhi, fine tuning what she was setting out to do. Soon she established SAAJ with a store. She also retails from around 40 designer boutiques and multi-designer-outlets around India, with an expanding international presence including in Turkey, Italy, USA, UK and UAE.
What’s On The Ramp: It is predominantly a sporty glam collection extracting its inspiration from the protagonist, Arabella, who is an artistic youthful fierce modern woman. Rather than being defined by a garment, the idea is to wear the garment as an extension of your individual expression of style. ‘Arabella’ has edge of sportiness, practicality and reality. Metallic hues, geometric patterns and sequin sheathing are the key highlights of the collection. The twist on varsity sweatshirts and slouch cuff pants in glossy neutral tones grab the sporty and causal vibe. There are metallic hues of subtle gold, sand beige, slate taupe and sirocco tinted peach, which reflect glamour and its subtle nuances.
USP: Structured colour palette and concentration on a clean and geometrical approach to the design. We are young at heart, mond and spirit.
FOlK TAlES
Gautam Gupta
label: An alumnus of NIFT, Gautam launched his pret label “Autre” in 2011. His love for quirkiness, bold prints and colours seems to get deeper with each collection. “I never want to be stagnant as a designer so I will keep on using innovative textures and weaving to write my design story but for now prints are the only thing which inspires me,” he says.
What’s on the ramp: Raahi is a sublime expression inspired by the magical deserts, folk dances, street art and the expansive landscape of Jaisalmer. The ensemble comprises loose flowing silhouettes with rural cameos evoking magic and vibrancy. The feel is distinctly breezy and designed keeping in mind the independent, woman on-the-go who desires comfort and style; be it while cooling her heels on a holiday or lounging in a casual neighbourhood shindig.
The collection comprises jackets, tunics, Kaftans in digital prints. The tunics are stylish and chic with elements of zip, cut-out shoulders and smart necks completing the look. He says, “I never thought my passion to travel to cultural rich places in India would end up inspiring me to develop prints but after my Benaras collection I got encouraged me to explore further.”
USP: Comfort and style go hand in hand.