Cannes’t They Get It Right?

Even Rai,the veteran,who can have top Indian designers paint her toenails if she wishes,turned up in a macabre green zardozi Sabyasachi sari a few days later. Team that with an un-modernised hairstyle and a bindi and,well,she may as well be going for a Juhu dandiya.

Sherawat didn’t wear a sari,but sought and received enough attention with a real-life snake as a neckpiece. No comment on this one.

Saris are wonderful and I wish I wore one more often. It’s probably every Indian woman’s wardrobe staple and a very difficult garment to wear gracefully,so kudos to us. It’s a marriage of our heritage and our sexiness,and double kudos. But I’m not so sure it can be worn everywhere just yet. Certainly not if you want to make a sartorial statement internationally.

The red carpet is a very special place and Cannes is the World Cup of red-carpet dressing. Careers are made on it,both for the actor as well as the designer/stylist. It is well known how mega fashion houses work overtime when it is awards season,literally begging the winning or presenting actors to wear their gowns — an A-list actor wearing your dress is estimated to be $1 million in free advertising. It is the world’s biggest fashion show and stylists are considered hidden power brokers.

That the gown is becoming increasingly redundant is easy for everyone to see. The Oscars induced yawns with their boring floor-sweepers year after year. Really,how pretty can “pretty” get? One-shoulder,strapless,backless— it’s becoming very hard to own the room in a gown if everyone’s dressed in one. This is also why Vidya Balan’s vintage saris and elbow-length blouses offer delicious timeout at out local awards.

But whatever happened to fashion savoir-faire? What about dressing with emotion and humour and a much-needed twist? Why not pick a younger designer instead,and try a little adventure?

These can only be found at New York’s annual Met Ball,an event much smaller in scale but one that’s far supreme in the chic department (and a favourite of fashion-istes). Most guests — actors,artists and socialites — usually wear their own clothes instead of borrowed feathers pushed by PRs and not trends. And wonderful new names like Erdem,Thakoon and Alexander Wang are bandied about.

It isn’t the age of cookie-cutter global fashion anymore,and it is possible to find an outfit that’s international in appeal and yet made with an Indian ethic. Our desi dames could have done us proud by experimenting with newer and more inventive names on their backs. And Cannes is currently the only place to show them off.

namratanow@gmail.com