Shirts are now a much appreciated addition to Indian couture. Whether it is saris or lehengas, both are equally accepting of their western counterpart; some would say they have no choice but to, all in the name of globalised tastes.
But the newness that we saw in Manav Gangwani’s collection, ‘India At 70’, on Day 2 of India Couture Week was how the latest shirt trends were retrofitted into the traditional lehenga costume. Whether it was the cold shoulder trend or dramatic, flared sleeves, all were represented well at the show, with each piece sitting perfectly well in the desi couture context.
The addition of international, new age designs was a welcome change from the overload of same ol’ shirt-lehenga combinations we have been seeing for the past few years.
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Another pertinent thing to mention is how different embroideries were seamlessly fitted into the same garment. We saw beautiful lehengas with both, kathakali thread work embroidery and jamawar work from Kashmir.
Each garment was a storyboard depicting interesting scenes from the Mughal era. Some even had motifs of gods and goddesses
(Photo: FDCI)
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Even the bandhanis of Rajasthan were perfectly at home with their kathakali counterpart.
There were a few pieces in loud obnoxious red with blinding embroidery that deserve to be forgotten.
While the fringe saris with lovely fringe blouses were sheer elegance.
New international trends applied onto saris was an amalgamation of traditionalism and modernity
(Photo: FDCI)
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Also, some of the jackets with their bold shoulders were dramatic and over the top, just how we like them. But let’s not even mention the comfort word here!
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Disha Patani as the showstopper was a sweet addition that did not frankly do much to the presentation.
The show was an interesting assembly of the different embroidery styles that make our country the rich land of craft it is.
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