Kitschy Kitschy Bang Bang

Graphic designer Anvita Jain’s label has a funky name — Pappu Ka Tanka. The 28-year-old’s joyous “Dil Bahar” line offers kitschy bags in deep red,embellished with rickshaw art,while basic white tees come with the remarkably anti-chic words “chaddi baniyan”. “There’s nothing safe in what I do. I have always believed in doing experimental stuff,a combination of street ingredients and old Indian motifs,” says Jain,who has named the label after her first embroiderer Pappu. Even traditional elements are reinterpreted — the old owl is revisited in Madhubani fashion on fitted smock dresses while the “jaali” work is morphed on to myriad faces on tees. The basic bags are revved up with the “Gau mata” motif. You can pick up the outfits and accessories at Ogaan at Santushti Shopping Complex. The line begins at Rs 2,000.

Designer duo Debyani Malhotra and Divya Sahaya of Studio Petticoat believe in weaving the Petticoat philosophy into their creations. “The label takes off from the Petticoat Lane in London,famous for its flea market,” says Malhotra,30. “As the label implies,we believe in layering our garments with separate slips or adding small hidden details inside. Our clothes are never made of a single piece of fabric.” The duo,who launched the label from their Sainik Farms workshop,now retail at Karma at Malcha Marg and Ogaan at Hauz Khas. While their jackets are stiffened with another layer of lining,the blouses have tiny coin pockets. Don’t be surprised to find a James Bond line — “Tiny little nothing you’re always wearing” — adroitly stitched on the inside panel of a blouse or a machine-embroidered vintage number plate on a jacket. You can also pick up cutesy crochet pouches.

The designers,who worked with Sabyasachi Mukherjee,have also given a clever twist to the sari. The lehenga-sari,quite a hit with the clients,features more panels with a variation of embroidery and is accompanied by a solid pallu. “Since it is voluminous,it looks like a lehenga,” says Sahaya,29. The outfits are pegged upwards of Rs 7,000.