Manish Arora broke many stereotypes with his couture show. He tells Karan Bhardwaj that no other designer can put as many colours in one garment like him
What could have been a better venue for Manish Arora to present his couture collection than the French embassyIJ After all, the origin of high dressmaking finds its roots in Paris, the region that boasts haute couture in its purest form. Though the ongoing Delhi Couture Week has several masters like Rohit Bal, Vineet Bahl and Manish Malhotra, we wouldn’t hesitate to set the creations of this globally-acclaimed master aside. Reason, it broke many a stereotypes on one hand and stuck to the couture rulebook on the other. There was drama, exotic models and of course, a riot of colours.
None of the Arora models wore dupatta in this couture show. “Women must not wear dupattas and be proud of their beautiful chest. Young brides must wear what they really want rather than obliging to anybody’s whims and fancies,” he said. With a well-lit ramp — each time the surface lights evolved to match the colour of outfits — the kaleidoscopic collection bespoke the idea of India with a backdrop of Arora’s penchant for colours. “No designer can put as many colours as I do in a garment,” the beaming designer told us with pride. Clad in all black, demarcated by a silver belt, he said he always believed in putting out a character and a story in his shows rather than simply presenting clothes. “I don’t design clothes. I narrate stories through my garments. From the look to the sound to headgears to the shoes, everything should be in sync to bring out an idea or a character,” he said.
This time, the iconic couturier batted for strong and independent women, even playing music of international women pop icons. Models were wearing bindis all over their faces and emperor’s headgears, evoking a sense of power and freedom. “My creations are for women who are independent and carve their own path. I am celebrating life, womanhood and the power,” he said.
The clothes were neatly categorised into six divisions, inspired by the gold and jewels, Paris and Belgium’s light festivals, the architecture of Peacock Room in Italy, crowns of the world monarchs, Temari craft of Japan and iridescent on Indian motifs.
Multi-colour stripes, gold rexine embroideries, colourful sequins and 3D highlights on bases of bright colour highlighted the psychedelic side of his clothes. Sequins of different sizes and proportions mimicked the light bulbs of street festivals. “I want to say that I love colours, tradition and craft,” he said. Each look focussed on the integration of gold through gold-plated detailing against pastels like sea green, powder blue and ivory on fabrics like heavy crepe, duchesse satin and silk dupions. Japan’s temari craft was transformed into chip embroidery through geometric and futuristic patterns. With thousands of chips used to create one ensemble, each half centimeter chip was manually cut and tucked. “More than anything else, the chiffon chips in the gowns took a lot of time and efforts,” Arora said. What stood out clearly was the story Bolivian art of a headdress. The colourful headgears were inspired by the warriors and emperor’s crowns, exuding luxury and opulence at the same time.