As the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Autumn-Winter 2013 kicks off in the Capital today,Masaba Gupta talks about her first Satya Paul collection that will open the week digging through archives for inspiration and retaining her own identity as a designer.
What is the theme of the Satya Paul autumn-winter range that will be on the ramp today?
The collection is titled Old Streets,Neon Lights and its about what Satya Paul always does,yet contemporising it. The collection has a retro and vintage,yet modern,feel to it. When I began working on it,I was sure that I didnt want to move away from the brands USP of using prints and vibrant colours and to make this happen I went through the Satya Paul archives.
What did you discover about the brand during your research that helped you shape this collection?
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I have an old association with Satya Paul since my mother used to wear its saris very often. But back then,I never understood why it was such a big deal to wear a Satya Paul sari. Once I began digging through the archives,I realised that the brand has such a strong connection with art and artists from across the world. And it is this quality that I want to retain in the collections that I work on.
Satya Paul is known most for its saris. What are the other silhouettes you are bringing to the runway?
Actually,there are fewer saris in this collection and more dresses,maxis,midis,jackets and leggings. And even the sari has been given various twists,so there is the armhole sari in which the drape on the shoulder looks like a pallu but there is an armhole,and the inverted pleat sari. Apart from the clothes,I have also designed a range of printed bags luggage trunks,totes and clutches that are in sync with the ensembles.
Tell us a little about the fabrics and the colours used in this collection.
The colour palette is mostly neon-based with pinks,oranges,yellows and green. Also,there are blacks,greys and whites. As far as fabrics are concerned,I have used crepe,satin,poly blends,silk,rayon and lycra.
How difficult is it to keep your identity as Masaba Gupta separate from that of Satya Paul?
I look at Satya Paul in a very different way. As two brands,both Satya Paul and Masaba Gupta have a common fascination with quirky and fun prints. But the Satya Paul prints are lyrical,fluid and paint-inspired,while mine are more structured. For instance,in the Old Streets,Neon Lights collection,I have used motifs such as a telephone booth,lipstick and ink blot in a very different manner. The lipstick as a whole is there,and so its smeared and smudged version and the telephone booth looks like a sketch on fabric. I would use these prints for my own brand in a very different manner.
There has been a hype around Satya Paul ever since you took over as its fashion director,also because you are all of 24. It seems the industry is eagerly awaiting the collection. How are you dealing with the pressure?
The trick is to not take any of it seriously. (Laughs) I am not joking. People stress about bad reviews and get worried about what others will say,but over the last few months,I have learnt that you need to have faith in the fact that some people will get your collection while others wont and this is okay. When I first joined Satya Paul,I wondered what if people didnt like it or what if this collection looks like my brand. Now,Ive understood that you should just let go and have fun with fashion. I am not nervous anymore.
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