With 27 years of design experience and revival work, Latha Puttanna has often been described as the Design Queen. Known for constantly re-inventing both the sari and blouse, Latha’s work reveals a fine instinct for design doctrine.
“Look at this,” she says pointing to the wall of Srishti, her factory, studio and store at Siddapura. The re-purposed family bungalow has several photos of the women of her family dressed in traditional saris. “I look to these time-honoured saris for inspiration and re-invent their prints and weaves for a present day resonance.”
Latha is passionate about the traditional textile, and aggrieved that a good many crafts are near extinction. “My mission is to revive them all with my designs.”
The collection, Yashoda, which Lata named after her mother, uses six vivid hues in rare combinations for functional saris, salwars, and has taken a cue from the South Indian langa for design and silhouettes. “The flowing, lightweight fabrics use texture-rich weaves on crepe, tissue, Georgette and pure silk yarn. Even if these photos are black-and-white, you can see the colours bursting out.”
In her spring-summer 2019 collection, Bougainvillea, Latha, will also showcase her recently-introduced line of blouses. “There was a demand and I created an equal number of blouses to go with saris, skirts, parallels, trousers and salwars. I decided to create this line with design elements from my work over the past 25 years.”
Latha’s blouses feature kalamkari, ajrakh, bandini, appliqué and aari work on Chettinad cotton, tissue and knit fabric, mix-and-match with embroidery and Orissa weaves. “As I swam through the ocean of fashion and design, I perfected the aari technique. So there is also thread, gold and silver work in this collection,” she says.
On what else she has for the hot days ahead Latha says, “The sari does not cease to interest me. I am always in awe of this beautiful outfit with endless possibilities. This is not available anywhere in the world. We should celebrate our sari? We are an end-to-end design house with skilled weavers, artisans and craftspersons from all regions of the country.”
Bougainvillea brings in range of kurtas and tunics in hand-woven mulmul cotton, linen, and pure silk Georgette. They are all done up with bright hand embroidery, not to miss the gold and silver zari-beaten work. “Designed for the hot season, these can be paired with crop-pants and organza dupattas. Bougainvillea also has a collection of tops, shirts, dresses, and pants,” she says.
Speaking of the name of the collection Latha says, “As the name suggests, it is evocative of the freshness of seasonal blooms in the city.
The intricate floral prints or embroidery all sit snugly on hand-woven textiles that I source from my weavers in Kannur, Kerala. Chiffons, silks and Georgettes are used for their lightness and vibrancy.”
The collection has traditional wear, made from natural dyes. “The soft silk saris with table dye in contrast colours are paired with blouses featuring bell-sleeves for a retro-70’s look. A range of light and breezy Ajrak saris are paired with embroidered blouses, while soft silks in striking hues embellished with block dyes are paired with Orissa Ikkat blouses.
“Some of my prints have been digitally transferred on to the fabric from hand-drawn designs.”
The Bougainvillea collection will be showcased on February 19 and 20 at Raintree
