Classic yet vibrant, luxurious yet affordable: this seems to be the mantra behind Pooja and Urvika Kapur’s Fall/Winter collection launched recently. The mother-daughter follow up their successful debut collection “The Gatsby Peacock” with a line that carries forward the amalgamation of Indian and Western, traditional and modern.
“We are very traditional with our embroidery. We mostly follow European traditional ways of making our gowns and dresses, with certain finishes which are very European and bring that together with Indian embroidery to give it an Indian touch. A gown from our collection can work well for a formal occasion with a Western dress code by being worn by itself and at the same time it can be done up with jewellery and accessories to work equally well for a formal Indian occasion,” says Urvika Kapur. Their clothes also indulge in vibrant yet elegant colours, almost as a counter-point to the subdued grey winter mood, using a variety of fabric options such as organza, velvet, brocade, chiffon and georgette.
Keeping the creativity flowing, Urvika emphasises the importance of the designs being feasible to actually wear: “Back when I was studying in New York, all my professors would say that when you create a collection, it has to sell and for it to sell it has to be wearable. It’s good to be creative but someone has to be able to wear what you make. That is definitely a factor we keep in mind. We make sure our cuts are very classic so that they appeal to every age group and they’re also slimming – we’ve come to the conclusion that whether you’re 16 or 60 everyone wants to look slimmer than they actually are!” she smiles. Having dabbled in many other creative art forms such as pottery, calligraphy and sculpture, the designer finds that sculpture in particular helps her in the art of drapery in many of the garments, some of which she drapes on the dummy herself. “You have to have it in your hands to get the perfect pleats, the perfect shape and the perfect drapery. Sculpture has really helped me there, I feel, and it shows even in this collection.”
Asked about their target market and the response to the collection so far, Urvika believes that the rising middle class is the emerging market for the design industry of today. Their Western wear collection ranges from Rs.5,000 to 15,000 and their Indian wear collection from Rs.13,000 to 35,000. “We kept in mind that people want to buy more outfits because they may not want to repeat dresses, and at the same time they might not want to spend a lakh on each outfit. The upscale buyer will not mind shelling out that kind of money, but he will be part of a much smaller market. This has been working well for us so far, and the response has been very good, very encouraging and very supportive,” she signs off.
