119 Years of Trust

THE TRIBUNE

Saturday, March 6, 1999

This above all
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Capturing the spirit of romance
Fashion
By Pinky Adil

AS winter recedes and spring sets in, the fashion scene brightens up in India. Structured black dresses and gray suits are making way for loose, free-flowing silks, linen and cotton in an exciting range, drawing upon the colours of the rainbow.

In ethnic wear, it is the ghagra-choli giving strong competition to the salwar-kameez this season. For formal occasions, the embroidery is turning out to be heavier than last year with pearls, silk, sequins and zari, whereas informal wear is marked by a bit of patchwork and mirrors.

Designers are adding their own versions to the basic ghagra-choli though. For instance, Shaina, a designer, has created an Indo-west mix with wired ghagras and blouses with capes, instead of conventional cholis.

She has also teamed the long skirt with a kurta and a saree draped around as a dupatta. There are also double-dupattas going with this ensemble in fabrics ranging from chiffon and kota silk to crushed chanderi and tussar for a sensuous look and feel.

Shoba Somani is another designer in the same league, only that she prefers to work on fine net lace and velvet embellished with sequin beads and delicate zari work. The ghagra is teamed with a hip-length blouse. The emphasis is on the crinkling, pleating and layering of fabrics.

Other designer are concentrating on the choli while experimenting with varying lengths and shapes. It could be short and fitted like a saree-blouse or long and extend below the waist in a loose shirt-like fashion or it could have the kurti or kanjari style with a backless tie-up look.

Along with the ghagra-choli, it is the dupatta or odhni, which is undergoing experimentation. Very often, it is plain and printed or embroidered and it does not necessarily have to match the other two garments.

The same principles apply to salwar kameez with a good deal of silk thread embroidery, beadwork, sequins and gold zardozi. Kameezes with puff sleeves and tapestry motifs on the yoke are some of the innovations being observed this season.

Gurpreet Bajaj has added trench coats in a combination of two fabrics — silk gazar and silk jersey — to this ensemble, thereby dispensing with the dupatta. In colours of mint, silver, silver and gray-blue, these tailored outfits make a celebration of the feminine form.

There’s also Apna Goenka who has come out with a fabulous collection of salwaar-kameezes with fine embroidered borders in velvet worked upon with gold zardozi. Embroidery forms like anglais, burnouts and pita (a take-off on zardozi) are also integral to the collection.

In western wear too, the accent is on capturing the spirit of romance with linen and fine silk in outfits ranging from ankle-length Capri pants with long kurtas to Baluchi salwars teamed with embroidered waistcoats.

In lightweight cottons, the options are skirts, shorts and palazzos teamed with tops that are light, airy, cool and sometimes, transparent. The whites are either pure, ivory or off-white, while floral prints vibrate between yellow, blue and tangerine.

Designers like Sharon Leong and Chandrajit Adhikari have worked out typical geometric silhouettes of basic shapes that follow the contours of the body. Their fabric preferences revolve around organic hand-woven natural cottons, jacquard and organza that allow the body to breathe.

And then there are designers like Rupashi Panchal and Chhaya Arya for whom dresses serve as a medium to highlight India’s artistic traditions. Ikat, mangalagiri, Warli paintings, totemic motifs and scriptural writing find expression in their latest creations.

Panchal, for instance, has come out with 10 styles of monochromatic salwar-kameezes in mangalagiri fabric with Nizam zari border. The cut has been deliberately kept simple and uncluttered so that the paintings on the dress get highlighted. — (MF)back


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