Much before an army of designers hopped on to the handloom bandwagon, a few have been quietly working with weavers for decades. Collections that come from their studios aren’t limited by fashion trends. The saris, ethnic and Indo-western ensembles spell class and stem from an understanding of weaving techniques.
Neeru Kumar of Tulsi is among such forerunners and is displaying her collection in the city. The younger designers sharing the same space are Vinita Passary of Translate, Aratrik Dev Varman of Tilla and Purvi Doshi with her pop-up collection.
“ Painstaking ke bina kuch nahi hota hai (nothing comes without a painstaking process),” Neeru Kumar tells us, as she shows off saris that have involved many man hours, from a few weeks to a few months. Lucknow work on muslin khadi, jamdhani motifs on linen-cotton blends, fine ikats from Sonepur and intricate shiboris are part of her line. The understated, sophisticated saris boast of an A-list clientele, including Sonia Gandhi and Priyanka Gandhi. The shiboris here are unlike the ones we stumble upon in retail space. “No two pieces are alike. Ours is a contemporary take on the shibori resist-dye technique,” she says, talking of the intricate, mosaic-like patterns.
Mandeep Nagi’s Shades of India, which has been primarily focusing on furnishings and lifestyle accessories, got its share of spot light when Nagi did an unconventional photo shoot for one of her collection, Cinnamon, featuring a domestic help. The photographs became a talking point. Mandeep’s line in the city includes easy formals in breathable fabrics. “Not everything here is handloom; we’ve used some power loom, but everything is handmade,” she mentions, pointing at a thread installation work for interiors.
Purvi Doshi’s pop-up line in khadi has garments with flowy silhouettes in shades of ivory, accentuated with floral motifs, from her Lakme Fashion Week collection.
Khadi is a part of Aratrik Dev Varman’s section as well. “I use fabrics from all over the country, particularly from Maheshwar, Gujarat, Chanderi and khadi,” he says. Red, black, white, indigo are recurrent colours. “The theme is bold and I’ve used inspiration from the shawls of Naga tribes, the horizontal stripes for instance,” he adds.
The silhouettes in most of these collections are relaxed. Vinita Passary’s tunics and dresses in ikats target a mature, discerning clientele. For the college-going age group, there are chic shift dresses as well. Translate’s colour palette has deep blues, reds and whites. A makeshift loom takes centrestage and Vinita explains why she prefers to use azo-free vat dyes over natural dyes. “For intricate ikat, vat dyes are conducive, since they ensure colour fastness,” she says. On working solely with Pochampally ikats for the last six years, she says, “For me, it’s not about using ikat as a patchwork. It has its own language. Not many designers work completely with one textile, especially ikat, since the production is slow.”
The collections are on display at the new Anonym store near Little Italy, Jubilee Hills.
