The Sun and Moon two stars have fascinated Archana Rao thus the moniker for her LFW X FDCI 2024 line, but she is excited to have done costumes for Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Kamal Haasan in Kalki 2898 AD, creating futuristic character sketches!
By Asmita Aggarwal
Hyderabad-based Archana Rao is celebrating ten years of her eponymous label, but there is a lot more to be happy aboutand that is her foray into South films. She won the National Award for the best costume designer for Mahanati, an Ashwin Nag biopic on Savitri, and she admits movies come easily to her, just like designing. Costumes for films and designing for a real character seemed real for me, says Archana, as she shuttles between films and running a successful brand.
In Kalki 2898 AD, starring Amitabh Bachchan, Deepika Padukone and Kamal Haasan among others, she admits designing for Big B in this futuristic film was a learning curve. It has taken us three years to finally come this close to the release date of the film. Big B is the easiest star to work with, as he does not look at his comfort, rather he prioritizes the character. Deepikas biggest strength is her collaborative personality, she is open to ideas and we worked with her stylist Shaleena Nathani for Kalki, explains Rao.
Rao had to begin from the scratch, for this film, as there was no reference that she could dip into, while designing for a futuristic film, but admits, she had used innovative materials for Amitjis character and created new textiles. Unlike Mahanati where we could look at Savitris vintage photos to craft a character on 70 mm, with Kalki the challenge was different, she explains adding finally it is a team effort —from the director to the cinematographer and numerous other technicians in between.
Back at LFW X FDCI 2024, Rao a NIFT graduate, who honed her skills at Parsons School of Design, started her career working with a menswear label. Winning the Vogue Fashion Fund in 2013, when she began, she knew she was doing something right. I always design separates, and I do not dictate looks. Even if two people are wearing my clothes, they are styling it differently, personalizing it, she explains.
She loves designing surface textures, in silk organzas, where sheer fabrics dominate, and on them she adds embroideries. The 2024 line is titled Sun and Moon, she liked the contradictions in the two, even though they are different, they share a secret harmony. This gave birth to two robust huesbright whites merging with midnight blues.
This year, less is more for Rao, as she focuses on impactful design, adding minimal shapes, very straight forward with the play of only one key element in the silhouettes. I have tried bling this year, with 3-D flowers, peek-a-boo with sheer and strong fabrics for our tailored looks, she confessed.
When she started out, Rao admits her offerings were in some ways too girlie and ultra feminine, fast forward to now she has turned to hassle-free clothing, which is versatile. You can wear her pant-suit that comes with a bustier later on with a sari, you already possess. Or buy a new sari from her that comes armed with power shoulders.
My strength I have to say is my embroidery, Hyderabad is currently thriving with design talent, but everybody here has their own distinct language, she confides. In the future, I do want to do many more trade shows and of course films, which always make me happy, she concludes.