Lungi Chic

Mumbai-based Rajashree Shivaraman recounts wearing lungis in her college days. The 56-year-old housewife places the entry of the lungi in India’s fashion lexicon to the ’70s. “Rajesh Khanna often wore the silk version in his films. His female fans — and he had many — adopted his style,” she adds. The actor famously attended a film awards function dressed in one. Shafqat Sherazi,who ran a tailoring shop in Bandra back in the ’70s,remembers women queuing up with silk,cotton,polyester and other fabrics in bright hues or bold,batik prints. They would ask him to stitch it up into a lungi,with the pattern in front and a nada to hold up the apparel,much like a wrap-around skirt.

The lungi has been part of almost every culture across India. In the north especially,where it is worn knotted and called the dhoti. While its use is on decline,the lungi continues to be not only the staple wear,but also an integral part of the culture across most South Indian states,especially in small towns and villages.

Govind,who grew up in a household where all men wore the checkered version at home,has used the print and silhouette several times to create skirts that can be teamed with either kurtis or fitting blouses. She says,“The structured silhouette of the lungi makes it versatile — it can be worn held up using a statement belt,stitched plain or patterned or worn with a leather jacket and boots. Indians should take pride in wearing it for it can be hugely fashionable.” She points out that traditionally it is worn by men whose work involves physical labour — the unstitched nature makes it a comfortable garment — and sometimes,women borrow it from them while doing the house work since saris tend to be cumbersome.

Adds Chennai Express director Rohit Shetty,“This is visible in their (South Indian) cinema too,where the hero and villains all wear lungis. To lift it up is a sign of aggression,almost as if issuing a challenge. This also comes through in the poster where Deepika is standing with her lungi tied up and arms folded.”

Interestingly,however,as Padukone has proved,the lungi looks better on women. Indian designers seem to have taken note of the fact. Several of them have contemporised it for the runway. While Goa-based Wendell Rodricks has often dressed men in lungi-skirts and women in lungi-inspired pants,couturier Tarun Tahiliani’s Spring/Summer 2013 collection for Lakme Fashion Week had several silhouettes that reinvented the humble garment.