Hell-bent for Leather

In the Capital,at the designer boutique better known for stocking Moschino,Lanvin,Marc Jacobs and Halston Heritage,Øverland’s edgy silk dresses,billowy cream shirt-length dresses and tiered black leather jackets from her latest spring-summer collection occupy the rack,playing out to the stilletoed set visiting the store. The outfits are pegged at Rs 20,000 onwards. “We have known each other socially,she’s my friend and I often wear her designs. I discover these small treasures in Europe and US and like to introduce them in India so that my friends here can enjoy it too,” said Priya Chatwal of Kitsch,who’s hosting Øverland in India. The up-and-coming designer has visited Rajasthan several times,and after her Mumbai preview will fly to Jodhpur for a high-profile wedding. “I have a lot of friends in India but it’s good to come here for work as well,” she says,adding,“I don’t know much about Indian fashion but I realized the country is big on colour when Priya chose colourful outfits. In Paris,they select mostly blacks while New York is dull too. Women wear dresses all the time— it’s as if no one owns denims. Back in Norway,when you wear a dress,people ask you where you are going,” she says.

Though she is known for her rock ‘n’ roll stage pieces (her first design gig included doing pieces for Steven Tyler of Aerosmith) the 30-something designer doesn’t stick out as a willowy rocker-chic girl. “It’s funny how people brand you. I never perceived myself that way. I think I am quite feminine. I use leather because it has a rock power to it,almost like an animal instinct. I usually use stretched leather,which has a lycra feel and makes one look super slim,” she said,kitted in a black dress from her label. Hopefully,her few scandalously short dresses will find a following amongst India’s socialites,including Mumbai where she is holding a trunk show tomorrow. “I don’t know much about Indian socialites,but I found actor Priyanka Chopra in one of my dresses for a magazine shoot,” she smiles.