First timers at WIFW SS 15 give us a glimpse of their style spectrum as Sneha Arora courts androgyny; Rina Singh travels back to simpler times and Richa Aggarwal gives a sporty edge to demure textiles
By Asmita Aggarwal
Sneha Arora grew up in a city, which is known for style mavericks like Sabyasachi Mukherjee and Anamika Khanna, but somehow that never unnerved her. So when the NIFT, Kolkata graduate decided to take the proverbial plunge and participate in the WIFW SS 2015, she knew it had to be something that the three-year-old label will be known for—telling a tale you will remember for a long time to come. Kolkata is known for its intellectual prowess and my forte is prints as I dont indulge in embroidery or any kind of embellishment at all. Yes, I so want to live up to the image of the city, but I dont let that bog me down, says Sneha.
The medicine aspirant, who stumbled into fashion, counts androgyny as her mainstay, so the power trouser inspired by masculinity are given a feminine form retaining the strength in the silhouette, in keeping with todays woman yearning for independence. Titled Disconnect, Snehas line is a fervent ode to delinking from technology, which has overtaken modern lives. I have tried to interpret this through SIM card prints, circuit diagrams, heady bulbs with flowers in them, she adds. Linens, silk cottons and Chanderi has been converted into easy cuts in colours ranging from dirty pinks to off whites. My most precious piece is the Coke bottles and floral digital print, she smiles.
WIFW SS 15 will see a melange of first timers displaying their ideologies and Rina Singh of the label EKA, brings along with her the freshness of her small town upbringing in Kurukshetra, with an agriculturist father who always encouraged her to chase her dream. I was born in simpler, uncomplicated times, where there was no information overload (Facebook or Twitter), so we celebrated festivals, enjoyed the fresh morning breeze and those sights and smells found a place in my collections over the years, says Rina. Coming from a Rajput family, Rina did her graduation from Jodhpur and then finished her fashion studies in London as part of the Wigan and Leigh College course. UK opened my mind to ideas, specially the illustration teacher who showed me a new way of doing things. I came back and joined NIFT Gandhinagar, where I undertook R & D and travelled all over Gujarat understanding its meticulous craft sector, working at the grassroot level, she confides.
Rina went on to work with ITCs label Wills and got exposed to various trade shows which honed her skills, but what gave her confidence was her husbands textile work with the Japanese market, under his company Eon or infinity. Rina launched EKA (constellation) in 2010, and realised that handlooms had become a much misused word, so her line aptly titled Love is all you need courts a pastel palette with ingenious weaves dominated by khadi and linen. There is ease and also fall in my boxy silhouettes, which sometimes come layered, with peg trousers and nifty summer coats. And this is my first ever fashion show; I thought it must be a tribute to my culturally rich growing up years, also the clothes must reflect who I am, she says.
So if Rina is looking at giving Indian women a taste of simplicity rooted in quieter times, Richa Aggarwal, a graduate from NIFT Bangalore and a masters from Winchester School of Arts, Southampton obsession remains offering interesting surfaces. Bohemian sensibility matched with hand-made textiles get a sporty edge with Richa helping women break the herd mentality. Women have started to recognise the need to look different from the rest, as clothes speak an unspoken language of who you innately are, she says.
Not a trend follower, Richa adds little details which make a big difference—from anti-fits, T-shirt tops with ribbed detailing, or tunics with sporty lining in a palette that aims to soothe you from the harsh summer sun. Washed out peaches pop out against off whites, in a strategic surface texturing that ingeniously combines patchwork with prints, and uses needle punching as an art form to add sassy touches. I wanted to study architecture, but fashion happened and I started to enjoy it as I was good at sketching! But fashion, I feel is a personal journey and pretty individualistic; my effort is to tailor clothes that finally fit into your mental style-scape, she concludes.