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Journalism of Courage
As one walked into the ballroom of The Imperial for Rohit Bal’s off-site show on Day Four of Amazon India Couture Week 2015 on Saturday, one got an immediate hint about the couturier’s latest muse — the runway was lined with trees laden with fresh flowers and fruits. Titled ‘Husn-e-Taa’iraat’ (meaning ‘beauty of a bird’), the haute couture collection turned out to be an ode to the beauty of wildlife, birds and flowers.
When the curtain parted to reveal the runway, 60 garments with Bal’s signature craftsmanship walked in. The models maintained a dramatic and leisurely manner, adding regality to the quasi-European setting. Capacious lehenga skirts, long sherwani jackets and sumptuous saris were presented in fabrics such as mulmul, woven brocade, velvet, chanderi and net, with models holding goblets of wine, which they proffered to guests.
Going beyond conventional bridalwear, ‘Husn-e-Taa’iraat’ was detailed with Persian embroidery that included multi-coloured flowers, long-tailed birds, fruits, elephants and camels. The motifs were an amalgamation of digital printing and hand embroidery. Visible inner linings of open jackets in darker shades gave dimension to the garments and highlighted the cuts and detailing more prominently. Roses, a recurring leitmotif in Bal’s work, made an appearance, too, embroidered on to clothes as well as adapted into accessories. They were used extensively as headgear and around collars and cuffs in shades of red, white and black.
For men, Bal had bandhgalas and jackets in shades of ivory, indigo and black, paired with churidars, jodhpurs, finished with intricate embroideries and wildlife motif jootis and shimmering black shoes.
Designers spotted in the front row included JJ Valaya, Narendra Kumar, Ritu Kumar and Sabyasachi Mukherjee, who, surprisingly, chose to observe proceedings from a vantage point in a corner.
