Two parallel lines – fantasy finally meets reality as Anamika Khanna gives the bride a touch of her phantasmagoricthought process, which crosses the style Rubicon
By Asmita Aggarwal
She understands luxury like few others in a fashion world which has been saturated with bridal lehengas with zardosi, so when Anamika Khanna showcases an installation in Kolkota she unleashes a slew of trends which are in keeping with the royal Indian ethos, albeit with a global embrace.
Inspired by the world, where fashion is not viewed through a microscopic lens, rather it is free-flowing, Anamikas Luxury 2014, part of the India Couture Week extravaganza was a delight for all your five senses.
The visual treat, which amalgamated the rustle of silk organzas with the diaphanous quality of her drape-y dhotis and capes, shrugs and caplets, a constant in her 15-year-journey she proved that being a non-conformist actually is all about raising the proverbial bar but it should be like a gentle caress and not a grab.
Nothing started as what we had planned, so if you ask me for sketches I wont have any, as it has been altered, over and over again according to what I considered a modern bride would want—edgy silhouettes with laborious, ancient craft techniques, she smiles, with her twin boys in attendance giving her all the support that she needs on her big day.
Dressed in her two loves—–a dhoti dress and a sheer cape, Anamika innovatively interspersed French knots with twisted cords to offer unrestrained opulence, but in her own silent way, without anything in her pieces being overpowering, keeping the wearers personality intact. I think, the need of the hour is versatility, so the ostensible simple looking capes come with fully worked on backs, making the embroidery, area-specific, she explains.
Her Outram Street store, near the lavish Taj Bengal, was bursting at the seams with fans, who had come to get a taste of Anamikas unmistakable aesthetic as she played with tone-on-tone embroidery. Vintage was the tale that she hoped to tell, with her own interpretation of trousseau which was minus any backless cholis, but had heady floral patterns and Victorian zari collars which added soul to each hand sewn ensemble.
I have done colour this time, so you will see lots of brights, but I have mixed them up by adding layers, without making anything too tight or revealing, so that nothing looks as if it is trying too hard to impress, she says.