When Sangita Gupta says she was 52 when she enrolled herself at Central St Martins, London to study fashion, the response she gets is ‘wow’. And when she adds that she attended that college with her daughter-in-law Rhea, the look of surprise on most faces always makes her smile. She has begun to enjoy those reactions now, admits the entrepreneur on a recent visit to Chennai as part of the Armoire popup.
Sangita and Rhea are co-creators of the Delhi-based designer label Twenty Nine, that was launched in October 2017. Back then, they had no formal training in fashion — the label was born out of their sheer love for good clothes and crafts. “To keep up with the market, we went to London to study earlier this year,” says Sangita. Even though they signed up for different courses, they would head to university together in the morning. After class, they would go to different stores, looking at materials, cuts and patterns that they had learned about during the course of the day. “It was such a pleasure to interact and exchange ideas with young minds. And all of them called me by my name,” smiles Sangita.
The Guptas knew that they wanted to offer traditional weaves in contemporary cuts. The result: asymmetrical tunics, backless jackets, palazzos, sharara s, dhoti pants, shirts and capes in resplendent bandhini . “We initially started only with bandhini . Now, we work with ajrakh , patola and mirror-work, with the latest being pleated bandhini ,” says Sangita.
One look at Twenty Nine’s mirror-work collection is proof enough that despite being new entrants, this duo knows a thing or two about understated bling. On canvases of solid black, beige and white, mirrors recreate the aura of, say, a Sheesh Mahal. From an opulent black bell-sleeved jacket that can double up as sari blouse, to white georgette palazzos that are a trusty companion with kurtas, tunics and tops, each of these pieces can be styled in multiple ways.
“We specifically tell our clients not to wear the clothes just one way. Wear them in at least four different styles.”
Most of the other collections is for now dominated bybandhini in stunning colour combinations, some specially created for Twenty Nine, like the grey and red shirt with diagonal button detail, the anti-fit capes in white and red and black and blue... They also work a lot with rai dana crushed bandhinis in silk. Their latest addition sees a fusion of two types ofbandhini — a single fabric plucked into small and large bindings — in the form of fitted tops in primarily black with small white dots and large red spots. Most of the garments have little detailing in the form of tiny beads along the neck and the sleeves.
Credit where due
Though Sangita and Rhea have a penchant for the crafts and are quick learners, Sangita is quick and lavish in her praise for the craftsmen they work with. The search for master craftsmen took them to Gujarat. “We did a road trip to a few clusters and saw artisans making lovely stuff. But they were getting ripped off by the middlemen. At that point our idea was to help them sustain their art and craft,” she says. Eventually, they want to incorporate craft forms from all the states in the country.
Their garments, for the most part, are anti-fit, so they can compliment most body types and cater to wearers across all age groups. Sometimes, their greatest joy is to see three generations of a family shopping from them. She shows a photograph, sent to her by a client, in which the grandmother, daughter and granddaughter are all in the same outfit but in different colours. Meanwhile there have been numerous enquiries from men as well. “For now, it is only patola pocket squares for them,” she smiles.
Twenty Nine is stocked at Aza, Ogaan, Taj Khazana and is available online on its websitetwentynine.co
