Unfinished leather, rock n roll lehengas and hand prints jazzed up day 3 of WIFW 2014
By Asmita Aggarwal
There is something about Arjun Saluja that you just cant seem to put your finger on, but you know he is undoubtedly a maverick. So when his trip to Lahore opened up a new world, it resulted in dexterously crafted leather jackets with a raw, unfinished feel that gave it a grainy, grey texture. The idea was to show the contradiction between high society and the people who live on the streets, marginalized; how the city is caught in a quagmire of hoping for a change/revolution that wont come easily, he says.
With footwear from Peshawar, and weaving techniques from the Sindh province, Arjuns mastery over biker chic was evident. The zips are kind of magical—a dichotomy between reality and fantasy; they are as if opening and closing a truth for you, with just a pull or tug, that fascinated me, he says.
Pleats at the back were placed for contradiction, biker boots added for a woman who can run away from her husband, anytime and the straighter, linear lines enlivened the leather jackets that came armed with hoodies and gloves.
If Arjun travelled to Lahore, Pakistan our neighboring country, Pia Pauro went way ahead to the Scottish Highlands. Tudor collars on embroidered dresses as well as rock n roll lehengas were accessorized with maang tikkas and embroidered totes. My focus was metallic embroideries, and we used a lot of silks, but I wanted to surprise everyone with my lehengas something I have never done before, she smiles.
In a country which is dripping with textiles, it was heartening to see revivalist Jaya Jaitely show her support to Urvashi Kaur, who ingeniously added Malkha, kota and tussar silk along with layering and shading to Shunya her autumn-winter 2014 line. We started from zero and slowly built it up, that how we got the name, says Urvashi. What was interesting, as the country goes into polls, is the hand print that Kaur used on the edges of her kurtas.
