Stitch Talk

Delhi-based fashion designer Prashant Verma wants us to believe that fashion is an art form— wonderfully crafted,sublimely detailed where the flowing print is “held down by a certain amount of structure” and a crystal-embellished jacket can just as easily be made to “look like an armour,” much in the way a sculpture works. This was no gab fest,but a short presentation,coupled with a clip by Verma at the CMYK store,opened last September by the publishing house Roli Books. Since the opening,the store has been organizing talks on art and design. In a 25-minute presentation,Verma held forth to a group of up and coming designers,bloggers,students of fashion and even an eager socialite Amol Vadehra about his evolution as a person and how each of his collection was a reflection of his own personality — the sharp,mechanical lines from the collection Ego to the organic surfaces in his latest collection Love Song.

The talk on fashion,was the first of its kind hosted at the 1,000 square feet store at Mehar Chand market on Lodhi Road. So far,there have been interesting art talks by collectors,both seasoned and newbies,who deliberate over the choice of their collectibles— impulsive or intuitive buys. “We want to make it more than a book store,a hub for dialogue and conversations where like-minded people can pour in. It is a perfect venue as after the talk,one can browse through books on design,architecture,art and fashion,” said Priya Kapoor,director at Roli Books,whose reason for choosing Verma was a close acquaintance with his work.

Up next,the store is set launch a cafe at the top level on it first anniversary on September 23.