Do the Duvet: Quilting moves on from bulky jackets to dainty dresses and skirts

If duvet references still bring stodgy silhouettes and stuffy shapes to mind, no one can banish the thought as easily as Namrata Joshipura, who brought her sportswear chic streak to the quilting party with her futuristic Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Autumn-Winter 2014 collection “elecTRONS”. Her cyberpunk tribe wore teal quilted jackets and sexy dresses that lent a glamourous air to the proceedings. “My starting point was sportswear and my reference was the quilted down jacket, but I didn’t want to give it a performance wear feel. So, I decided to make it more fashionable, and give it a street-inspired look,” says Joshipura, who employed a very fine grade neoprene, “soft with no inherent sponginess; almost like jersey”. Moreover, she used a custom DNA-like pattern for the stitching, giving the look an instant modern upgrade.

In contrast, Hyderabad-based designer Neha Agarwal, a Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) debutante, was going for a full-scale feminine affair with “Mille Fleurs”, a line of dresses and skirts in vintage shapes with vibrant embroideries. Parasol carrying models showcased ensembles where the quilting work itself, done in ornate swirls as well as geometrical patterns — a mix of hand and machine work — also served as intricate embroidery. “The general misconception is that quilting makes one look fat. But I used very fine fabrics, delicate quilting and kept the silhouettes close to the body so that it wouldn’t add unnecessary volume,” says Agarwal. With ahimsa, muga, tussar and gicha silk serving as the base, Agarwal also introduced petit-point or convent embroidery to the mix, adding to the distinctly dainty vibe of the collection.

Dhruv Kapoor of DRVV, on the other hand, kept it subtle, yet hit the high notes with a dramatic blood red quilted cape. In a collection inspired by the warrior woman, where the designer aimed to capture the untamed, animalistic spirit of things, he relied on the quilting effect on heavy silk satin to provide a leathery look and replicate animal hide. “But I wanted to put the quilting trend in perspective for India. Internationally, the look has been more anti-fit with puffer jackets and parkas. I wanted to do clothes that you can actually wear in India,” says Kapur. The result was stand-up collar pant-suits with tapered jackets, A-line skirts and column gowns with placement quilting that complement the wearer’s shape rather than overwhelm it. “The idea was to envelop the body and add oomph. The non-quilted bits of fabric serve to enhance the figure and elongate the form,” says Kapur.

And while both Agarwal and Kapur favoured silks for their quilting, others like Megha Garg experimented with lighter fabrics and embellishment. The Kolkata-based designer’s festive collection showcased at LFW, presented a quilting technique where she sandwiched shiny sequins between layers of organza and net to create an opaque, yet blingy look. “I must admit that I wasn’t too concerned about the warmth aspect. The idea was to do something different for the festive season,” says the designer of the sequin quilting method that took her nearly two years to perfect. The opaque quilted “fusion” pieces served as shifts and even as panelling on dresses and anarkali-inspired drapes.

Even as Swati Vijaivargie and GenNext debutante Kristy DeCunha experimented with various permutations of the quilting technique, menswear too got the nod with Arjun Khanna’s quilted detailing on leather biker jackets and Anita Dongre’s sherwanis that kept the embellishment minimal and the look classic.
With sub-continental style being no stranger to this layering technique and sujani-like embroideries, and with textile specialist Sanjay Garg also adding a quilted touch to his traditional luxury “occasion wear” line, the craft is bound to see a resurgence in Indian wear as well. Here’s a trend that you definitely won’t be able to ignore or put down.