Right to Repair
Ashita Singhal started as a curious fashion student wanting to know how to upcycle waste, and thats how Paiwand, her label was conceptualized. Winning the Nexa Spotlight and telling us that re-woven is austerity personified; she is consciously saving the planet one less stitch at a time. By Asmita Aggarwal She was quintessentially far away from anything remotely fashion, as the Delhi-born and raised Ashita Singhal founder Paiwand Studios fathers business is of electrical wiring and her mom a homemaker, but the capital and its inhabitants did turn on their charm on the young aspiring fashion student. She graduated in fashion design from Pearl Academy of Fashion, in 2018 and her graduation project was the one which won her the Nexa Spotlight. Learning pattern making in college, she understood the enormous waste fashion generates, which is the reality of fast fashion. Most of her projects for college submissions revolved around upcycling textile waste, thus the moniker Paiwand, lagana or to repair. Blue Pottery, the title of my Pearl Academy project, was a wholesome way to recraft what was considered waste, weaving it into something spectacular. It also won me a $25,000 James Mcquire grant that helped me start my business, says 28-year-old Ashita, who used to get the katrans from either ragpickers or export houses. Clothing is second skin, it must be special, so I began a concerted effort to undertake R and D on the kind of textiles we wear. The only way to upcycle was to visit local markets and procure materials and then elevate it with patchwork and hand embroidery. My in-house handloom unit is focused on innovation and we have successfully upcycled leather, flex, cotton to silk, polyester and knits, she admits. The beauty of working with waste is, its unpredictability, it is limited, so you have to be imaginative, and keep looking at options, developing around the concept, you find ingenious ways along the process. There is no stagnancy in the colours or yarns, but yes, the biggest challenge is to justify costing, as consumers tell us, it is made out of waste, so it should be cheaper, she laughs. City Blues, the title of her 2024 line for the Lakme Fashion Week 2024 X FDCI was around the Nexa theme Urbane and this is where her love-hate relationship with Delhi came into play. Ashita loathes the mass consumerism and herd mentality, but admires how the Capital gives her the space to express herself, looking at the multiplicity of life, through like-minded individuals. I wanted to showcase the contrasts —we are inspired by streetwear, but I have intermixed it with understated luxury, she exclaims. There are blazers, jackets, dresses, and conceptual pieces which push the design envelope. Jod is her showpiece, woven on handloom, it is two pieces connected without a single stitch, showcasing the binding through contrasts. This line has effectively utilized knit waste, block printed scrap, whatever she could find and flex which is easy to get in local bazaars. At the Nexa jury the members couldnt believe that our pieces which had a couture feel were crafted out of scrap, they were both esthetically and visually appealing, she confides. Offering a lifetime guarantee to repair outfits when consumers buy from her, she believes, interiors and hotels, allows her a chance to diversify, as her dream collaboration must be with Eileen Fisher, the American conservationist and designer. The price range is Rs 10,000 upwards, to Rs 40,000 and Paiwand also offers customization. We also use jamdani, traditional weaving techniques, zari, as well as double circularity where we recycle our waste which we call- re re woven or woven twice. The future for us as a brand is establishing a signature brand identity and maybe acquiring a distinct global presence, she signs off.
Hoops of Hope
Nitya Arora of the accessories brand Valliyan celebrates its 15th anniversary by paying tribute to bugs and beetles, quiet warriors, in a new sci-fi avatar, who help balance our fragile eco-system through her brass and copper gold plated jewellery. By Asmita Aggarwal The brand got its name from her grandmothers blessings, as the hoops (balliyan) she was presented with came with a promise of a lucrative future—thus the moniker Valliyan, twenty years ago also a tribute to her robust Punjabi heritage. Though it has been a bumpy ride as the market in 2008, was immature and lacked any concept of fashion jewelleryit was either silver or precious, nothing in between. Her journey began with fashion pop ups, where questions like how to wear fashion jewellery, what is it made of, came up, also why should costumey earrings be so expensive? It was a potentially growing segment and the market had to be created, it didnt exist back then, explains Nitya Arora the founder of Valliyan, who was in some ways ahead of the curve in both ideas and design, though since the time she began the market had been flooded with new players. In many ways Nitya knew the way to grab an audience was online, thus unlike designers who started their website during the Pandemic when they were forced into e-commerce, Valliyan had theirs up and running since 2013. Only through our online retail we could go viral with our ear cuffs, midi rings and evil eye bracelets as well as your initial (name) embedded jewellery, she explains, as her first store in Kala Ghoda, Mumbai ten years ago was started when the fashion destination was get to win the huge popularity it enjoys today. At a time when social media was non-existent, Nitya knew films had a huge power, she had after all interned with Kunal Rawal. She took a leap of faith and designed jewellery for Sonam Kapoor starrer, a fashion forward film, Aisha. Trained at the Parsons School of Design, US, she knew jewellery would be her calling even though she studied fashion design as she made what she wanted to wear and could not find in the Indian market. Valliyan is crafted out of copper and brass, then gold plated, some of her pieces are made from cane, wood, acrylic and even bamboo. Fascinated by furniture weavers, she sat down with them to learn the techniques and then trained under artist Ashiesh Shah, when she was barely 15, the desire to learn and grow was omnipresent. I did many different things while growing up and was the first brand to sell exclusively at Bombay Electric. Women through Instagram have a lot more exposure now they know how to dress, accessorise and the content online has boosted their confidence. The Pandemic also changed our relationships with ourselves and people dressed nattily to be online, they want to spend money to look good and are not waiting for occasions, she adds. The beauty of fashion jewellery is its accessibility and pricing, unlike things you put in the locker and forget, this can offer multiple options, thats why her LFW line is titled Valliyan 5.0. There was a time when I did a show every year, and it always excited me even though LFW did not have a space for accessory designers. My latest line is a mix of handmade with technology coming together beautifully. Focus is on bugs and beetles and how they are little robots working in the background invisibly in our lives. They balance our ecosystem and have never been given credit for their work, says Nitya. In addition, for LFW X FDCI 2024 there are butterflies, dragonflies, with a space age, sci-fi feel, presented in a theatrical manner, she admits. Coming from a business family, she was often questioned about her need to work, and was hugely protected while growing up, but from Marine Drive to work with Kunal Rawal in Marol, Nitya took that painful drive everyday. It was crazy work hours but the learning with Kunal was stupendous. When I launched my label I self-taught myselfmerchandising, production, finances, design to retail and wholesale, and today we are celebrating 15 years of the brands inception, she smiles adding that she is proud of herself, being able to survive in this cut throat world where brands struggle to live everyday.
Wear Calm
Urvashi Kaur had all the makings of a hit showa bevy of intellectuals from Ratna Pathak Shah to Rasika Duggal as well as relaxed clothing armed with natty wraps, coppery saris, easy tie ups that announced the arrival of a comfortable spring, as she completed 15 years in the business of fashion! By Asmita Aggarwal Maybe the biggest support system for Urvashi Kaur has been her artist mom, who is always seen silently sitting or watching the show. But this time, the ex-army chief General J J Singhs wife Anupama was on the ramp, dressed by her daughter, in a long carefree bandhani dress, with vibrant shades of magenta to match her vivacious personality, as she smiled and clapped for her on the runway at the LFW X FDCI 2024 showcasing. Kaur decided to be back with a bang, and celebrate her 15th year in the style business with everyone who maybe stood by her on this tenacious journey of ups and downs. As her septum ring took centerstage along with the barefoot musician, who enthralled us with his flute to ghungroos, and of course dreadlocks, Kaur was telling us all that relaxed is the new cool. And the new cool is also Ratna Pathak Shah, the actress who choses intellect over box office slavery much like her other showstoppers from Manto actress Rasika Duggal to Masaan star Shweta Tewari and even the lovely Tilottama Shone, they all wore her free-spirited checks and tiered dresses that caressed the runway. In all terms, the show was inclusive tall, short, oversized, bearded, bald, bespectacled, turbaned, Kaur didnt leave anyone out of this myriad mix, as her dhotis graced women and men both creating a unisex wardrobe, frankly the future of fashion. The play of exaggerated collars, double collars, wrap pants, tie ups, asymmetrical dresses, risqué bustiers as well as metallic everything from pants to coats and cover ups, her love for copper and gold was evident this season. Sari and pants, in neon, layered dresses, play of hems, models reading books, content creators, stylists like Gautam Kalra making their way on the runway along with a turbaned model carrying a Lulu Guinness-esque Lip bag, who famously exclaimed, My red lips are my signature, my trademark, sparked the lip clutch craze. The play of stripes was extraordinary by Kaur, and Ratna Pathak doing the twirl for us was fun too, so was Shwetas brocade ink blue coat, however, the message was chill—be yourself, embrace your flaws, dress in subtle shine. The fabric bags, along with comedian Mallika Dua were artsy and so was Kaur in her grey dhoti with a buttoned down shirt as she did a little jig for us to tell us, I am happy to see what I achievedI made women super comfortable!
Valaya on wheels
From Chevrons to inclusivity, J J Valaya tells us individualistic women are the most fun to interact with and that his bridge line JJV Kapurthala is only helping you dress quicker and smarter. Asmita Aggarwal The shifting leaf Chevron which is the staple of JJ Valayas fashion house, was created about twelve yearsback though it never began as something he would take down the years, but it ended up becoming highly covetable, a signature of sorts, so now it is a perennial and every season J J does a new line based on this and perhaps, he admits one can expect to see many avatars to this most loved pattern in the seasons to come! Just like what a Missoni does with the zig zag pattern or LV with its signature logo, or Versace with the Medusa! I dont think doing a bridge to luxury or diffusion lines can really put an end to couture, in fact it helps the growth and evolution of a fashion house. I have been a couturier at heart always and have excelled in wedding clothes, but there was always a huge segment of loyalists who were dying to bite into the ethos of the brand. Either they are getting married, or they are already married or they have years to get married, says J J at the launch of JJ V Kapurthala at the LFW x FDCI 2024 showcasing in Mumbai. So, he decided we wanted to create a line that was more accessible which could be worn by many people and could look at making sure that the line would lend itself to a larger audience across the country and that is exactly what has happened with JJV. Haute couture rules and rules supreme, and never has couture to do with the amount of embroidery the garment has. There are so many other facets that go into a well-constructed garment in terms of quality of materials, quality of workmanship, the enduring signature of timelessness, believes JJ. All these things come together along with perhaps the most excellent levels of craftsmanship which kind of define couture in the world and indeed in India as well. Tying up with a jewellery brand Aulerth, is a natural extension for fashion lines and in these be it jewellery, carpets, or Valaya home, he always involves professionals, as he realizes that his skill is in creating and detailing. The technical side of any business and that too a diverse business if you look at the jewellery business and interior business it requires a completely different mindset to see how it technically works with people who are masters of the craft, he says. His biggest achievement till date is remaining relevant as a fashion brand and for that the most important prerequisite is to be excited about what one does. Almost 33 years down the line, he is pleased to say, and happy to acknowledge that his levels of excitement and enthusiasm to sort of keep creating something new and beautiful remains perhaps at an all-time high. I would imagine that keeping a brand going and launching newer things every season have been more fun; putting something brilliant together, says JJ. His personal style is rather basic and he lives his life in short kurtas and Nehru jackets and breeches or jeans and he rarely wears embroidery even though it is one of the mainstays of the House of Valaya. I play a lot with prints and textures, yes obviously my work stems from a belief and personal ethos, but a chef when they make all the brilliant food that others enjoy, they most often end up eating basic at home, he confesses. There is no doubt that as a designer one must go with time, AI and Metaverse there is no escaping it, though one really has to wait and see what happens in the future with these tools. Considering that I started my career at a time when only 22 fashion graduates came out of one design school in the country, there were no newspapers or magazines covering fashion, there were no TV channels, no internet, no fashion weeks, from there to now I have seen a huge change. And I am looking forward to what happens in the future as well, he exclaims. Sure, AI will play a role, but he does not think there will ever be a complete switch, rather it will make way for a beautiful balance between technology and craft and that is something that will keep fashion going, in full gusto. Rather than AI changing the world, he feels women have! Every designer is dealing with an evolved woman today and there are no barriers of any kind, no disparity, it has been shunted out. Inclusivity is the buzzword. There is no shame in body types or skin tones or just about anything is fully accepted. That is beautiful in a way, as everyone is happy and content in their own skin. They are not afraid to flaunt it and therefore, if we look at the evolution that has happened from then to now, we are dealing with stronger and more confident women. They are very sure of what they want and absolutely in awe of who they are, so that is a great state to be in, he says. His target audience is anyone between a 23 to a 50-year-old, and he is catering to a diverse section of women and men, and not shouting from the rooftops that Valaya is only for the young. It is fair to say that over the past three decades and more we have dealt with the most stylish women and from all age groups. We have never differentiated between women who have a panache for fine dressing and that remains the case even now, he says. Though what he noticed in terms of dressing the 20s and dressing to 40s, is that lots of barriers have broken down, and now everybody wants
Anish Malpani CDC winner tells us his journey from being a finance honcho in the US to recycling chip wrappers into chic eyewear, as he hopes to build a waste-free world where you wear his Without sunnies sans any guilt. Asmita Aggarwal Both his parents are doctors and till the age of 9, Anish Malpani lived in Aurangabad, before the family moved to Dubai and thats where he stayed till he was 18 years old. Under graduation took him to the US, years later he left his boring finance job to come back to India. He admits he had everything—good money, no debts, youngest director of a US firm, but he did not want to make the rich richer. I felt really down and wanted to address real social and environmental issues, and my goal was to solve them, says Anish, who won the Circular Design Challenge 2023 and shiwcased his line at the LFW X FDCI 2024. When Anish came to India he wanted to learn, as he had stayed in New York most of his life, and spent time in Nairobi and Guatemala to understand recycling problems. I wanted to research the impact of waste management, after all there are 1.5 million rag pickers in our country and not even half of the waste we produce is recycled as we dont realise, the material has value, says Anish, who adds that you can create high quality products by recycling. He decided to foray into eyewear by recycling chip wrappers, to make it both fashionable and cool above all sustainable, but he confesses fashion happened unintentionally. We are using the market to maximise the impact and to empower waste pickers, he says. The challenge with recycling this kind of plastic is that it is multilayered, with a combination of various types of materials in it which makes it hard to recycle as it is not uniform (aluminium to paper et al). And only one per cent of this wrapper waste is recycled globally. You have many different types of plastic and the most recycled is bottles, almost 90 per cent, explains Anish. The chip wrappers are a bigger problem, and he operates on a small scale from Pune, right now. Many laughed and mocked him when he started, saying things like You won’t be able to make this a business and why are you doing this? But he stuck to his gut feeling that and continued this uphill task winning a spot even on Shark Tank India. He chose to recycle wrappers after checking almost 400 products, and came down to 70 parameters, after thorough searches, eyewear scored high and he wanted to show the mechanical qualities of the material when recycling. I wanted to replace virgin plastic, and Ashaya or purpose, the company hopes to achieve that, he adds. Though the eyewear is sold under the label Without meaning without fear, anxiety, and guilt of using plastic and destroying the environment. Our eyewear is 100 percent recycled and I feel proud I could achieve this, build a world without waste, he adds, saying the eyewear is priced between Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,500. All the designing is done in-house by young students and even though no one studied chemical engineering, yet they manage to recycle the wrappers and create products that are appreciated more outside India, even though domestically there is a segment which is conscious about what and where their products are coming from. We have made a conceptual brand and it is new-age. The focus will now be also on jewellery and maybe footwear in the future, he concludes.
Simple Weaves
Gaurav Jai Gupta takes you on a journey to watch a Wes Anderson film through his ingenious weaving techniques, blazing ochres and endearing kinji saris in ‘Moonrise’. Asmita Aggarwal When you must fight for everything you get, you take nothing for granted, and sometimes that story of struggle becomes a lighthouse for others. The fashion industry is an isolated space, where some are unable to hustle, but when you choose to create on your own terms without diluting your brand ethos succumbing to market demands or financial constraints you are a winner of sorts. I am not a gimmicky designer where I am telling stories through Insta videos to capture the fancy of GenZ. My story telling is restricted to my shows, and in art the story lies in the abstraction, says Gaurav Jai Gupta founder Akaaro. His work is layered, and he believes as he is not an activist and neither into hectic advertising, the brand sticks to what it knows best—-dressing intense, powerful women with a mind of their own. If you look at art, the products tell the story and you connect with it instantly, he explains. Textiles, quality, and tailoring has been Akaaros mainstay not settling for mediocrity to serenade a fleeting audience, his training in textiles and weaving has helped him hold his own. Textiles are my DNA and I do not know anything else, what I did in college is what I have continued till today and in some ways, couture is continuity isnt it? he asks. His LFW 2024 line is about innovation in textile, with heavier cottons, to muslin, hoping to craft ensembles which are both functional and urbane. His classic kinji or stretch one of the brands archival fabrics which he has been working with for the last 15 years, with pleating is perfect for this seasons exaggerated sleeves, volume, detailing and big shoulders. The conversation has been how to market handlooms in a modern way to a younger more unpredictable audience, so there are denim finishes on handlooms, chambray used as denim, khadi as denim, with detailed stitch lines and oversized clothing. This time I would say there is a bit more fashion in my clothing, he smiles. To add to this mix is ruching and metallics, puffer jackets, skirts, tops with a global vibe where luxury meets craft. Gaurav has used threadwork, surface texturing only when he needs to, but till today he is known for his metallic saris, where even now there is a waiting, along with his outerwear—tailored trench coats and nifty capes. The pandemic had taken its toll on designers, many were forced to shut down or downsize, rethink their brand identity, and despite not being a bridal label Akaaro was able to sustain the storm. I look at fashion as a maker, what is my potential, there is a need to always elevate creative processes. Unfortunately, India does not recognize pure talent, it has a Capitalist way of looking at success, totally dependent on your balance sheets, he admits adding that dressing Bollywood stars or red carpet has never been his end game. Frankly, we are confused as a society, and have let stars decide our future, he adds. What makes him happy today is the evolution of women in this space, their astute understanding of textiles, their experimental attitude, buying power, exposure, and clarity of thought. As Gaurav is a master of bespoke tailoring, he has been working on his version of a bridal line of saris, keeping his brand language in mind—a bit of kinji palla saris, stretch which is built in the weave. These are different from his linen, metallic blends, that have a loyal fan following. LFW X FDCI 2024 story resembles a Wes Anderson palette that he had taken to a New York trade show recently. The yarn that was wasted, the warp was reused to create checks —-ochre, muddy reds, blues, pinks, and ivory, along with colour blocking, thats why the LFW collection 2024 is titled Moonrise. It was fascinating how yarn wastage can be converted into a full collection and the theme of capturing the moon through its 16 stages has its own perceptions. Ignition point of any line is curiosity and as my brands tagline has always been look within, seek within, he confesses. Working at his own pace, and not succumbing to the pressures of feeding the social media monster, he feels technology has to be used sparingly, and the fundamental question for those with massive followers is how can 3 crore people like everything you do? The ball is up in the air on this one.
One size fits all
Chola by Sohaya Misra is back after five years to tell us clothes must be alive, have movement and adjustable, defying conventional norms of dressing according to your size and body type. Asmita Aggarwal Little did she know that the name she kept for herself as a toddler, Chola would one day become the moniker of her fashion label, after all stylist-turned-fashion designer Sohaya Misra, a psychology major credits her love for free-flowing garments as a starting point of this six-year-old journey into the world of fashion. The alacrity of Sohayas clothing is that it is ageless, genderless and retail spaces which sell as small, medium, extra large, Chola offers you ingenious strings and buttons to adjust it the way you feel comfortable in every outfit you buy from her. I dont embellish and neither do I embroider, it is not my vocabulary, says Sohaya, but she does believe her clothes as a version of art and thats why she was excited to collaborate a few years ago with her cousin, an artist Renuka Jalan. Moving to Goa five years ago and a conscious decision to slow down, raising her son on the sandy beaches, Sohaya, is a woman who believes in collaborations. As her clothes are super easy and allow freedom of movement without any constriction, she dressed dancers working with Peeya Rai Chowdhary of Omaggio Performing company. The desire to make clothing without boundaries, came from the fact that Sohaya felt not being a conventional body type in India comes with hassles to find the right fit where you can adjust if you put on or lose weight. Clothes dont have to be boxy, thats why I love the Japanese designers. They break rules through minimalism and black. The anti-fits, the love for austerity is what I learnt from them, as I am a self-taught designer who never went to a fashion school, she explains. Sohaya is adamant in sourcing locally, with a small five-member team, she only makes as much as it can be consumed. I feel many times women shop with a set mindsetsilk and formal, but now all that is slowly changing. Women are conscious and intelligent. The embroidery fascination has ended, they want to wear and rewear their clothes, she adds, saying that she tries to add elements that wont bore the buyers after a few wears. Unlike others, who first sketch then buy fabrics, she works backwards, so this year she is back with a bright, coloured denim plus patchwork (made from recycled deadstock) as well as linen. Add layering, print-on-print, handwoven ikat to craft structured jackets as well as frills and you get Sohaya Misras carefree offering.
Sari is the Chanel of luxury
Hand woven and timeless Gaurang Shah for LFW X FDCI 2024 is back with an ode to spring with Gulal, with hand painted charkha woven khadi saris. Asmita Aggarwal Designer Gaurang Shah, won the National Film Award for Best Costume Designer in the Telugu film Mahanati, directed by Nag Ashwin, the film starring Keerthy Suresh is a biopic on legendary yesteryear actress Savitri. This isnt the only feat that Shah is overwhelmed by, as he believes his real achievement is when he started showcasing at LFW in 2012, he was the only one who came armed with hand woven saris. In 2001, he recalls, handlooms were finished, their popularity was dimming, this was primarily due to the lack of design intervention, no direction given to weavers, they were unable to fill the gap between modern needs of a well-travelled woman and traditionality. The consumer and weaver needs to be aligned and this is where Gaurang jumped in. He worked on the yarn design, made sari sustainable, added innovative ideas and he explains, in India the sari is its innate identity. The sari is a six-metre-long canvas for the weaver, if you look at his experiments with the Jamdani, every inch he elevated with fresh hues and discerning motifs. His belief in the Hindu calendar and how to dress according to seasons, is the reason his LFW X FDCI line is titled Gulal, paying tribute to Holi, the festival that ushers in Spring. In 2022, he had launched Sindoori for the festive season, and he confides it takes two years for the weaving process and thats why he took a break to be back this year. Each state has been represented through pink in this collection, whether it is Kashmir to Andhra and Madhya Pradesh. We have added indigenous weaves, plus hand painting. But this creative process is time consuming —you begin with drawings on paper, then the yarn is dyed and put on looms, families then weave the entire day by hand, we dont use power looms. Sometimes it takes two years for just one sari, it is a slow process, explains Gaurang. 2024, the motifs are refined in Shahs collection, with a use of matka silks, hand charkha khadi, Jamdani, jacquards, to even gara, French Knots, chikankari and the exclusive petit point needlework done by the nuns in Kerala. We give older techniques a contemporary flavour and the challenge this year was to display shades of pink there is no other colour used, he explains. Sari industry is more than Rs 288 billion in India, and it is still the most bought garment in the country till today, though Gaurang also has a range of Anarkalis, lehengas to ghagras and the beauty of his offerings is he uses only natural fibres used, the material only gets smoother and softer with each wash. We work with more than 2,000 plus looms all over the country, and thankfully over the years, we have built a reliable, sophisticated clientele, which values each weave and hopes to make it an heirloom, he confesses. The sari is the Chanel of luxury, he laughs and says it truly transcends time, much like his Patan Patolas, which take almost two-three years to weave, an investment for a lifetime. We work only with real zari, which never goes out of style, woven for generations of weavers in Surat. It is not just looms, sari weaving is an emotion, they put their stories in the fabric. Unlike sequins and heavy embroidery which has a shelf life, our saris are timeless, says Gaurang as he explains each motif is region specific. The kanjeevarams have wall sculptures inspired by South Temples, but they have innovated by adding ornamental designs and sometimes floral jaals.
Dressing Big B
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.
The War Within
Bomb blasts, barren land, soldier writings on walls and stones, how war destroys the fabric of mankind and its futility has been beautifully mirrored through deft stitches by Sushant Abrols label Countrymade. By Asmita Aggarwal From writing poetry, to working with 8-10 needlework techniques, using imagery of his late Air Force pilot brothers life-from plane fuselage to the Morse code, Sushant Abrols label Countrymade, launched in 2019 is an homage to ingenious thinking. At 33, Abrol has won the Nexa Spotlight, without ever giving up hope, even after he faced several rejections, this is thanks to his upbringing, where challenge is part of daily life. He is delighted to get a solo show, a task many veterans have been unable to achieve, complete with 30 looks, after all he is just four years old in the industry. He was clear, he will launch unconventional menswear, but not slide into the comfort zone of ethnic offerings, even though this space is till evolving. Menswear doesnt work like womens wear, the former like to touch and feel, desire right fits, and to get a repeat clientele, you need to understand and customise, says Abrol. A believer in slow growth charts, building on a strong foundation, albeit consistently, is his motto. Without spending on PR and marketing, he refuses to overexpose the brand, neither has he tested the choppy waters of influencer marketing. I havent evolved with the insta-creator economy, it has been a personal choice, he smiles, adding he wants to still stay relevant even when social media craze wanes. This is even though naysayers advise him against his decision, stating he is losing out on opportunities, but his buyers are matureartists, musicians, and architects, who come to him for elevated basics, so you do not need a Uniqlo in your life. From a distance you can tell its Abrols clothing, and it is nothing like the designers he was trained under from Rohit Bal to Jyotika Jhalani of Janavi. Though his mentor, has always been the inimitable Shahab Durazi, whom he was curious about, often called as the Armani of India. I travelled to Mumbai, met him and since then he has guided me, I always share my progress with him, says Abrol. Just like he read Vanguard, a book written on the architect of Indian fashion Rohit Khosla, by his sister Rohini. The core of this brand rests on stark neutrals, hand done embroidery, he mastered neatness, modernised khankas, refused to do animals or flowers motifs, the inspiration is intangible, like poetry which turns into art forms. Using off white threads for his embroideries, chanderis and pure silks, matkas, katyas, as well as linen, prints over embellishments is his lexicon. Men want to repeat clothing, but I see some reluctance when it comes to embroideries even though we do a lot. They are only now exposed to the beauty of woven and knitted offerings, earlier it was only checks and stripes, he says. The feeling is if it is worked on, it is feminine. Everything Abrol indulges in, comes from a personal space, even if you look at the name Countrymade, it conjures up images of hooch, liquor, or arms, but that is not what he believes. It refers to things made slowly, by hand, a labour of love, a small cottage industry, where there are no industrialised processes. In 2015, he applied for a scholarship to study at London College of fashion, but didnt bag it, little did he know that it would be a blessing in disguise as his label today is for a discerning few who value his craft. His brother remains the central character in all his collections, even the latest, titled No Mans Land. This is based on the letters he received which have been preserved till today by his mom, and when he sat down to read them again, he felt a profound sense of loss—-revisiting the pain. The letters would come with a tagline Confidential meant to be opened only by Sushant, this was today playing in the background when he saw the Russia-Ukraine war on TV. The questions that emerged were What are we fighting for? capturing the odyssey of a soldier reflecting a personal battle ensuing within. I believe in dialogue, as humans we must find a common ground, how soldiers feel after war, when he views the destruction, is my inspiration, he confirms. The line presents this dichotomy and internal confusion through clothing specially Gond art, where the stitches reflect the tyranny of barbed wires and train tracks. The extensive R and D was done viewing thousands of war imagery, from barren land, scribbles on stones and walls by soldiers wanting to vent seeing the inhospitable surroundings, that saw kantha stitches coming into play. On stamps that come on inland letters were used to show the communication, Abrol embroidered them, the detailing of thought by Countrymade is quite engaging. He created artistic impressions of trees, rivers, and mountains in no mans land, indulged in line drawing, gave a birds eye view of farmland through embroidery, the line is replete with symbolism. Bomb blasts are also shown through stitches, even capturing how stones fly with impact, I think the idea was to depict the futility of war, I hope I have conveyed that effectively, he concludes.