Suneet Varma celebrates the pronounced aspects of celebrations, with his unabashed ode to fantasy, hoping to bring back cheer.
By Asmita Aggarwal
It is a grim reality, almost 50 lakh Indians have lost their jobs, so devising new ways of survival is now the only way to ride out of the quagmire. The fashion world has been worst hit, but fortunately it has been resilient for the past few months and has taken these multiple assaults, bravely on its chin.
The digital format, says Suneet Varma is not an option but necessity, now most of us have embraced the digital format and you are helping the environment in more ways than one by cutting down on whims. Those who adapt to change, the future belongs to them, he says, even though his legendary work spans over 30 years, from his time learning with the iconic YSL, to back home his grand shows with theatrics and faux feathers layered with sensuality.
Couture is heartfelt and unlike ready-to-wear, which is about functionality and pragmatism. Couture will never change according to me, it has to have all the ingredients to connectmystery, fantasy, celebration and drama. That is where the spirit resides, if you remove these essentials, it becomes tepid, he explains.
It is established, Suneet believes, couture cant suit circumstances, hence his line is dipped in intrigue, Alice in Wonderland, has been given a new avatar. My friend Vivek Ramabhadran, who heads Swarovski, started exploring digitisation, almost a year back and we had long conversations on how this will take over the world in every sphere of our lives. It took a pandemic for us to realise its potential, he says.
Interestingly, it made his mind tick, he understood it saves money, offers a wider choice and really if you look at it, Suneet says, it is more of a mindset thing. His mother almost 80-years-old never knew the pleasures of online shopping, till recently she was forced to order a kitchen accessory online and was impressed by the hassle-free experience and delivery at the door step. We set up an online account for her and she is on a roll. See, if she can do it, anyone can, he says.
Being a photographer, Suneet understands the importance of a frame, the sense of timing and how to bring his vision alive, what your clothes attempt to communicate. His film had all the making of a dream world, where girls are seamlessly floating surrounded by beams of light. You can observe how, the designer has incorporated the language of textiles in his line that encompasses Banerasis, Tanchoi, silks and jacquards in a warm palette of sunshine, salmon and coral. He named his line Timeless, so as to not let the magic fade away, in terms of both work and thoughts, it is also a harbinger of gaiety.
With most of his clients, overseas, the style guru, has been conducting business and sales on whats app and instagram and hasnt yet ventured into the e-commerce business. With the severity of the pandemic increasing, we are now looking at pointed, focussed lines, as there is less money to invest. Buying will be studied but celebrations wont halt. Brides may not splurge on Rs 5 lakh lehenga, but they will get something for lesser with the same aesthetics. Already there is limited layering and embroideries have been restrained, and trousseau lost weight with easier drapes, there is really no need to suffer with couture, he concludes.