First timers at WIFW SS 15, Himmat Singh gives women a fit-in-the-pocket jacket; while Payal Singhal gets experimental with Indian fusion; Varun and wife Nidhikas luxury prêt revives the grandeur of Mughal Char Baghs
By Asmita Aggarwal
Himmat Singh watched his father build an empire as a young kid where he dressed from A-list Bollywood stars to former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi. S P Tailors was a benchmark of quality in Jaipur and after late Shankar Singh Pawar passed away his son Himmat, who is a first timer at WIFW SS 15, took it upon himself to carry forward the flame. I launched my label in 2000 and menswear remains my strength, though for women, this time I have got something special, says Himmat.
His uber chic Nehru jacket, bandhgala and sherwani is reversible and somewhat of a pocket wonder. You can fold it up and put it in your pocket, so it is easy to travel with and doesnt need ironing when you open it up, he smiles. This invention came up when Bollywood dreamboats Aishwarya Rai Bachchan and Shilpa Shetty told Himmat how tough it was for them to carry clothes that crushed and needed a deft handling. This made me think of an alternative that will give women a chance to be free from laundry services. You can wear these over jeans, saris and even shalwar-kameez, he smiles.
Keeping the spirit of Jaipur alive, with tie and dye, Sanganeri prints, Himmat has included velvet sherwanis with gotta patti ka kaam. My father always told me, keep your quality so high that customers keep coming back to you, he remembers.
If Himmat learnt from his father, Payal Singhal, who launched her label in 1989, after a fashion course at SNDT, Mumbai watched her parents run a successful garment business. As she celebrates 15 years in fashion, this year, with a show at WIFW SS 15, Payal studied at Parsons and then went to FIT, moving to US after marriage. I never gave up on my label and this move helped me get NRIs and international clients, she admits.
Offering Indian fusion, ready-to-wear, Payal includes silhouettes which are relevant in the global context. So you can see a lehenga-esque pencil skirt worn with a cropped tunic inspired by a choli; or a backless kurta with palazzo pants. I like to make people curious so that they wonder—is it really a choli? she smiles.
This year, it is a monochromatic palette, with antique embroidery executed with leather adding a modernistic edge, plus there are Payals signature prints which will add quiet glamour to her line. Kashmir has been on my mind, but I have used the metaphor of the valley, and not done a literal translation by using Kashmiri embroidery. Cyprus trees are motifs for my prints and not the picturesque Gulmarg valley which I could have embroidered but I didnt, I went with small, visual touches, she adds.
Payal has been an insider and outsider in the industry and has watched it from its infant stage, when there were few magazines and stylists to now when it is bursting at its seams with blogs and tremendous digital opportunities. Interestingly, it was international exposure which she found truly liberating, when she studied at FIT, New York where the no rules rule gave her the freedom to explore. I learnt about branding and business marketing, identifying your product and where you want it to be. A lot of Indian designers are quite confused they dont know whether they want to be a Ritu Kumar, Manish Malhotra or Anita Dongre, each of these famous names are vastly different in their business models. I launched my online store last year and I am motivated with the response I received, she adds.
If Payal knows what will work and comes with a winning gameplan, husband-wife duo Varun and Nidhika, after studying fashion at the Northern India Institute of Fashion Technology (NIIFT), wanted to offer a luxury prêt line for a discerning few.
Having worked with Manish Arora and Rohit Bal, Varun developed a love for colour from the former, and an inimitable understanding of Indian aesthetics from the latter. Nooriyan, the title of their WIFW SS 15 collection is based on Mughal architecture (Char Bagh; Chashme Shahi overlooking the Dal Lake, Kashmir) and its intricate, finely defined motifs. The geometric gardens, built Persian style with water channels running were a witness to the era of splendour. We have used this in an allegorical sense, executing this time of ebullience in linen, matka silks, organza and modal satins, says Varun, who met his wife Nidhika at NIIFT.
The Chandigarh boy is offering natty angarakhas with touches of peplum, sharara kalli pants, open jackets, cropped tops and sheer organza dresses hoping to entice women who want classic cuts, albeit with interesting surprises. Classicism is what Rohit Bal taught me, and that kind of stayed on and became my brands DNA, he concludes.