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Journalism of Courage
RANNA GILL HAS ALWAYS had a fascination for prints. 8220;It8217;s something that I can improvise on a lot,8217;8217; says the Delhi-based designer. Yet for her autumn-winter collection this season, Gill chose to abandon fancy prints and experiment with something more conventional8212;polka dots. It was a rather unusual choice, con-sidering that Gill8217;s collection, Elizabeth, had strong Victorian over-tones. But she managed to pull it off fine, teaming it with lace, ruffles, frills, and empire line silhouettes. 8220;I have never ever worked with colours like red, so I thought it would be nice if I could do something different with polka dots and bright colours. I8217;m so glad it worked,8221; trilled Gill, after her line was snapped up by Tsum, Russia8217;s biggest chain of boutiques.
This season, it8217;s back to basics. Polka dots and stripes are in vogue like never before. A whole lot of designers are looking towards im-provising on these traditional prints. In his fall collection which has a strong overtone of Mughal miniature, Rohit Bal had incorporated stripes in an antique manner. Then there8217;s Malini Ramani whose clothes this season flaunt stripes and dots innovatively. Her autumn-winter collection8212;The Party8212;comprises a line of resortwear in three segments8212;brunch, sunset cocktails, after party. The latter two have a line of funky clothes with generous sprinklings of gota and mirror work in symmetrical lines, and even a dash of lehariya work.
If Ramani and Gill are looking to improvise on the traditional format, there are others who are trying to create a statement without too much experimentation. Much like the designer herself, there8217;s something disarmingly simple about Aparna Chandra8217;s clothes. They are quiet, subtle, and yet make a def-inite style statement. Chandra too has toed the stripes line for her fall-winter season. 8220;I was looking at clothes which would work in slightly summery countries like India. So I did a whole range of clothes which are casual,8217;8217; she says.
Chandra claims that her use of stripes was unplanned. 8220;I like contrasts, which is why I use a lot of tonal colours which stand out. So black and white stripes were an obvious choice.
This collection is mostly black-and-white with just a hint of colour to liven things up. That8217;s why the stripes stand out,8217;8217; she explains. Designer couple Nandita Basu and Abhishek Gupta8217;s autumn-win-ter collection for the season called Fightercock is a tribute to street fashion and cross-cultural influences. 8220;We wanted to do a line of casu-als which would fit the look of any kind of streetwear across the world. Stripes have always been the most common trait of street fashion, so we incorporated that in our clothes,8217;8217; says Basu, who is in the process of opening the couple8217;s store in Delhi. So, it8217;s time to go dotty!
