From elaborate headgear to elephant and horse prints in fabrics like chiffon, khadi and raw silk, designer Anupamaa Dayal’s collection not only brought to ramp the essence of the Naga tribe but also their vibrancy. By Shrabasti Mallik
A few days ago we gave you an idea of what designer Anupamaa Dayal’s showcase at the India Fashion Week is going to be like inspiration from the Naga tribes. But then again, what we hear and understand is sometimes very different from reality.
Dayal’s collection titled Fight & Feast not only embodied the essence of the tribe but also their vibrancy in all its glory. She did not even stop herself from using their unique and traditional headgear often horned and mostly made from tufted feathers.
The highlight of her collection, apart from the dresses, were the headgear. From single horns and double horns to conical shaped caps, every model carried off a headgear with elan.
What we liked best was a wrap dress in sunshine yellow increpedechine. The dress was hand printed with native animal motifs.
Her models walked down the ramp, barefoot, in the most colourful ensemble we have seen in the Fashion week so far. The prints in her line ranged from elephants to horses and from drums to flowers. She played with fabrics like chiffon, raw silk, khadi silk and chanderi and colours like red, blue, white, black ecru and sunshine yellow.
What we call exotic, she calls a treasure trove. In her trip to Nagaland, she not only got to know the lives of the Naga tribes closely but also lived with them and learnt about their way of life. “Then, of course, was the whole cultural wealth of textiles, basketry, ornaments, weaponry and more,” the designer pointed out.
Apart from the inspiration of basing an entire collection on this ‘exotic tribe’, the designer came back satisfied at having touched “something raw and timeless.” “It will be tattooed forever in my senses, inked with love. It was not my head but my heart that was hunted,” she shared.
photos Pankaj Kumar