It's about an aimless traveller who surfs unknown spaces, drifts through dark buildings and strolls past smoky scaffolding. Though Vivek Karunakaran lets his subject wander, the designer doesn't waver from his narrative of the “Urban Vagabond”, in his all-new creative spin for Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2010.
For his creative detour, the designer takes easy pret and gives it a couture rendering with intensive handwork and edgy, international styling. “I've broken free from my signature look — which is fuss-free pret. I want to take my label ‘Viia' to the next level,” says the designer, displaying the line at his studio in Neelangarai. “It's essentially constructed, yet looks deconstructed because of the layers, tactile textures and surface treatment.”
Design possibilities
As the colour story progresses from stark black and subtle grey to wild rose and beautiful crimson, the raconteur indulges his fantasies to create clothes that have a self-conscious air of grandeur. He sees plenty of design possibilities for his footloose traveller. The dresses, tops, cropped jackets and short skirts that delicately skim the body, and follow its every curve and movement, come with a variety of stitches and washes. “I've used a range of dyeing techniques, washes and craft skills to put together this collection,” beams the designer displaying a softly tailored, differently cut slate-tone dress embellished with lush craftsmanship (delicate pin tucks, barely seen fine embroidery and peek-a-boo yellow piping.)
“It's a mix and match of crafts, textures and silhouettes,” explains the designer. So while enzyme dye romances dip dye, hand-stitches and metal zipper trims coexist with neatly tailored pin tucks and short skirts, and jackets are teamed with cigarette pants. “Layering in terms of textures and silhouettes adds drama,” says the designer who is showing his creations at the fashion pageant for the fourth time. Wispy volumes juxtaposed with precise tailoring in this tightly edited collection show how Karunakaran has evolved from a designer of streamlined, no-fuss silhouettes to one who can handle new proportions.
“It takes hours to make an outfit. But it's a lot of value,” he says, asking his wife-designer Shreya to wear a seemingly complicated hoodie jacket in silk. Another one that beckons attention is a cocktail number with a burst of subtle black-grey flowers around the neckline.
For men too, the designer has come up with fresh takes on structured dinner jackets, drop crotch capris and torso cinching bandgalas. A perfect summation of a line that believes fashion has to be processed with a discerning eye.
Vivek Karunakaran speaks a fresh “Language” when it comes to footwear. Urban chic meets grunge glam in the collection of shoes to be shown at Lakme Fashion Week on September 18. To offset the restrained use of colour in Urban Vagabond, Language has conjured up a special line in eyeball-grabbing hues. Bright red, yellow and purple calf- and knee-length boots in different washes and treatments complement the look of the garments. The collection takes the vagabond theme further with its use of dull-finish buckles and studs. In the creations for men too, Language has tried varied washes for a worn-out effect. So you have distressed grey and grimy black boots and textured slip-ons. “Bachi of Language understood the essence of my collection. He came up with an interesting line that matched mine in terms of colour, texture and finish,” says Vivek.
