Inspired by the tales and colours of Rajasthan, Reynu Tandons ICW line resurrects the historical past with a contemporary reincarnation.
By Asmita Aggarwal
Two years back Reynu Tandon along with a bunch of friends decided to take a road trip to Rajasthan, with two stops—Ajmer and Jaipur. She visited the Royal Museum, was charmed by the vivacity of hues and the flavours of the Pink City. This year, she decided to pay homage to the desert state, which boasts of opulent palaces through her ICW 2016 line, aptly titled Kamangari, or young brides.
Even though Rajasthan is drenched in the brightest colours, Ive restricted my offerings to just two or three tones with gold, pista green, orange and rusty reds finding a pride of place in the 32 piece collection, she smiles.
But what sets the boat sailing is not the threadwork which has been Reynus forte rather the khari work used ingeniously along with screen and block printing.
When one looks at Rajasthan it is all about vintage and ethnic swirling lehengas, but we have tried to modernise it through the prism of what would a young girl wear who is attending her sisters wedding? It will be something young, fun but also traditional. It is this bridge between classic and new-age that I am connecting, she adds.
The backs have been dramatic and foil printing has been used to give it a bridal feel, along with tassels and is accessorised with jadau jewellery. This is my second couture show after Shah Bano last year, though I have been doing couture for the last ten years I just needed the right platform to showcase it and ICW was perfect. And in my experience this genre does much better than prêt as it comes with the exclusivity tag, she concludes.
