As the Amazon India Fashion Week is around the corner, we provide you a glimpse of what the collection by the debutants this season will be like. Riya Sharma reports
Every year, we see a newbie marking their way to the glamorous world of fashion by showcasing their own label or clothing line. What follows is the series of doubts and apprehensions whether it would be accepted or acknowledged by people out there. What works wonders for a lot of the debutants is being offered a center-stage on a platform where the can showcase their latest designs. Going by the same trend, this year, six designers, love Birds, Ragini Ahuja, Dhruv Kapur, Anavila, Shalini James and Nimish Shah (stall designer) who are going to debut at the Amazon Fashion Week slated to go around the floor from October 7-11.
Sunil Sethi, president, Fashion Design Council of India, said, “We are happy to announce that these uninhibited style gurus will bring a fresh impetuous to the floor, making it an ideal amalgamation of contemporary and traditional designs. They are going to set the bar high by infusing oodles of energy.”
Kerala-based Shalini James, is going to showcase her collection, Indian by Choice. “I have worked mostly with block prints from Bagru and Sanganer juxtaposed with blocks from kalantari. I have tried to blend the two for my latest collection. As I feel comfortable working with Indian textiles. I have tried to blend the fabrics of different places to make it unique. The weaves are from North East and Andhra Pradesh,” said James.
James who is a graduate from NIFT (Chennai ) told us that she was exposed to textiles from the time when she was a kid. “My mom used to work with the fabric and it means a lot to me. This is also one of the reasons that I don’t want to play around with
some other fabric because this is close to my heart,” she shared.
Though working with textiles as she shared is part of her philosophy, she told us, “As it may sound repetitive and people might think what new am I doing every time I come with my collection, they are surprised to see that the final output is always different.”
For her collection, she has primarily made use of colours like rani and firozi from Indian traditional colour palette. “The cuts have been inspired by Mughal era, you will get to see a lot of voluminous long skirts, anarkali and angrakha which she explained is a wrap round skirt,” she shared.
She added that though she has worked only in cotton, the highlights of her collection would be zari, velvet and muslin which she has also used. The designer told us that she spent time with craftsmen in Jaipur to get what she wanted in her designs. “I asked them what I wanted, got it dyed but the other additions like outline of silhouettes and finishing of cuts, I did on my own. Also, I have used ari embroidery in my collection which is different from the usual ari design,” she said and added that as ari and cotton goes with the look, she decided to keep the embroidery thicker than the usual ari embroidery.
Dhruv Kapur, 27-year-old fashion designer, told us that he has eased out and kept it casual which is in contrast to his other works which is usually inspired from architecture. “This one is more casual, clean, precise with a certain amount of elegance attached to it,” said he.
When we asked him about the name of his collection, the designer very casually replied, “I don’t this needs to have a name. At the end of the day, these are clothes that I am making clothes don't need a name.”
He added that the collection is different in terms of the simplicity that would be seen in his designs which comprise of skirts, shirts, dresses and blazers. The young designer has tried to subvert the normative ideas with his collection. “I have tried to turn everything upside down with this collection,” he shared.
Giving reference about his idea of subverting ideas, Kapur explained, “In many cultures, veil is a sign of subjugation and I actually subverted the idea by making it a symbol of power. By making it a symbol of power, I have tried to break the idea of something that is given and accepted by the society,” concluded he.
This is Komal Sood’s first solo collection at Amazon Fashion Week. She had earlier showcased with other five designers in 2011 but she is coming back after a long time. The collection is called, Feather of Freedom which is symbolic of optimism of lightness and freedom. “It is more about the feeling that we as human beings are always seeking freedom and for me, it primarily expresses feminine component which is prominent in all my other collections,” said Sood.
Elaborating more on collection, she told us that it is going to begin with casual silhouette ad then move out to the second section which will have jumps, shorts and tops to the last section which will have easy cocktail dresses. “The colour palette is neutral, I have actually colours that I love like golden, grey, beige,” she said.
Talking about her inspiration for the collection, she shared, “It is actually the feeling of wanting to be happy, and things that make you feel meditative and light like yoga are the source of my inspiration.”
While one element of her collection is optimism, the other one is updated classic. “I have updated the classics by making them modern. So, when we have used body skirts, we have created a very high slit at the middle of the thigh to the end. It not gives a modern touch but gives it a sexy edge,” the designer concluded.