It would not be off the mark to say that not only Pablo Picasso’s masterpieces but also his lesser known drawings have inspired innumerable individuals across the planet to create their own artistic impressions. The latest person to derive inspiration from his work is Poonam Bhagat, who presented her autumn/winter collection at the recently concluded Amazon India Fashion Week.
Technically speaking, the designer, who has experimented with abstract expressionistic art in the past, did not translate Picasso’s work into the fabric but drew inspiration from the artist’s lining, imagination and artistic bent of mind. Her collection was classy with its silhouettes and colour patterns. The fabric was light and embellishments were done in a manner that the outfits did not look gaudy. Created in linen and matka silk, the ensembles were in ivory, black and cobalt. The idea behind this colour palette, said the designer, was to highlight the night sky. Excerpts from an interview with Bhagat:
What led you to highlight Picasso in your collection? Earlier, you drew inspiration from Vincent Van Gogh too.
this time round you decided to highlight legendary artist Picasso’s work. Has he always inspired you?
I chose Picasso as he has always impressed me with his ability to completely transform himself with every period from The Blue to The Rose and from Cubism to Gigantism, each signifying change and evolution. His constellation series of line drawings was riveting and fascinating, as ink dots connected by fine pen lines turned the zodiac into guitars and mandolins and musical scores.
Why particularly his constellation series?
These were not some of Picasso’s well known works and I decided to translate them onto matka silks and linens with silhouettes that were edgy and worked themselves around the appliqués. The idea was to bring his lesser known works into the consciousness of the observer. Besides this, I have always been fascinated with the night sky and the Milky Way.
Hence, the palette was cobalt, black and ivory with just a pop of burnt orange mimicking the setting sun. The collection turned out to have a rather Japanese bent of mind, so its no surprise then that we commissioned the Tokyo based-uber talented milliner, Satsuki Nagakawa, to make us constellations for headgear.
The journey of your label has been running concurrently with the number of years FDCI has put in hosting shows...
Taika was conceived in January 1991, so we ourselves are a few months short of celebrating 25 years of existence, which actually makes it 50 seasons. We have sold globally through buyers for Milan, Tokyo, Rome, the United States, the U.K. and Johannesburg.
We have also designed all the costumes for a French opera, “Lallah Roukh”, performed at The Kennedy Centre in Washington DC and The Lincoln Centre in New York City.
