IT is that time of the year when you would need to pull out your woollens and air them in the sun. For their part, designers are once again coming up with winter collections — much as these often look suspiciously similar to what the just-concluded festive season occasioned.

But then, nobody is complaining. What has, however, become an issue of heated debate in Indian fashion circles is whether blacks and greys must dominate this winter, as always. Or whether, it is time to try out clothes that are brighter and more colourful?

That black is beautiful and would, almost always, go well with any complexion cannot been questioned. As many designers point out, black commands a certain "timeless appeal", which no other colour can match, especially for winter clothing.

Too much black can also cause gloom. As Namrata Barua, a leading Bombay-based model, points out: "Black is not an Indian colour. Red is. With embroidery, black can become too formidable. You need to be really bold and adventurous to carry such clothing."

Leading the anti-black brigade this season are designers like Abu and Sandeep, Anu Gupta and Darshan Kinariwala. While Abu-Sandeep are experimenting with pastels and earth colours for their Tibetan and Fiza collections, Anu is working at lemon yellow, mauve and various tints of blue for her Zedd range.

Likewise, Darshan is venturing into brighter shades of lime, henna, burgundy, sand, flesh and mauka browns in relatively heavier fabrics. "People are fed up of the same old shades of grey, dark blue and black every winter", she reasons.

"The colours I have chosen are not only off-beat, but pleasing to the eye as well. They are specially dyed for the season in fabrics that go well with Indian climatic conditions. I have used black and beige also, but very sparingly."

Designers like Nandini Kumar point out that indications of a "brighter winter" this year were evident from various festival collections put up in September-October. "Somehow, people do not realise that clothes must represent the mood of the wearer and not the designer," she observes.

Known for winter wear that has traditional embroidery and a dash of glitter, Nandini upholds the view that black and beige are "perennial winter colours" with mauves, blues and pinks having no place — unless, of course, the occasion demands revelry, opulence or grandeur.

Ramp model Sushma Reddy agrees. On a personal level, she recommends a "stylish pair of sleek black pants with a colourful embroidered or sequinned top" to catch the spirit of the season. "Even black with some cool mirror-work and embroidery looks very classy during winter", she adds.

Eventually, it is the combination of one or more colours with black that finds the most enthusiastic response. For men, this invariably translates to a pair of dark trousers with a contrasting pullover, jacket or full-buttoned shirt, depending on the occasion.

For women though, the options could vary between black A-line skirts, salwars and stretch pants with colour-blocked tops, kameezes with oriental florals and elaborately embroidered jackets. Long strappy dresses in solid blue are also popular in winters.

Women are also combining black trousers with simple, sleek, earthy-coloured blouses and matching carry alongs. Wraparounds like shawls and stoles have not caught on this winter, though colourful caps and mufflers are making occasional appearances.

"Indians are not very imaginative at designs in woollens", says Sushma. "This is primarily because the winter chill escapes the best part of the country. It is only in the northern parts that we can see some interesting pullover styles, but most of them are imitations of overseas labels."

Nevertheless, some leading designers of Delhi are reviving the traditional knits of hill tribes from places like Kumaon, Garhwal and Manipur. For instance, the typical black-and-red Manipuri stripes have become a recurrent motif for children’s wear this winter.

Kashmir too has become an important resource centre for winter fashion. With shawls losing out in popularity, the fabric is being used extensively for flowing kaftans and long tunics. Embellishments range from tone-on-tone silk embroidery to loud multi-coloured patterns from carpet weaves!

— M F