Stitch in time

It's a proud moment for all. The institute’s director calls them “notoriously creative” while a teacher remembers them as “the bright sparks”.

After making their debut on the ramps of the Wills Lifestyle Fashion Week, this designer couple makes a special visit to Mohali’s NIIFT where they first spun their dreams

It’s a proud moment for all. The institute’s director calls them “notoriously creative” while a teacher remembers them as “the bright sparks”. Proving both of them right is the couple we meet on NIIFT Mohali’s campus on Friday afternoon. Hemant Lalwani and his partner (both in profession and marriage) Nandita Raipurani are just breathing easy after a hectic Wills Lifestyle Fashion Week that saw the duo debut in style. Interestingly, both are former fashion design students having graduated from NIIFT in the year 2002. “Whenever we are interviewed we always make it a point to mention that we are from NIIFT Mohali and not NIFT, Delhi,” laughs Nandita who along with Hemant is conducting a workshop for the present batch of students at Mohali.

“It’s the least we can do for our alma mater,” chorus the couple who got raving reviews with their debut collection. “We titled it ‘Wardrobe Rock Art’. It’s our take on the super feminine yet vibrant and on-the-move Indian woman,” explains Nandita who likes to term their style as a lot of “mix and match.” “While our silhouettes are Western, we have Indian themes running right through. Like this time we combined hand paint with dabka,” Hemant pitches in with the details.

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Having previously worked independently with designers like Malini Ramani and Aparna Jagdhari, Hemant and Nandita fell in love with each other and their individual creativity on campus. “But we both had a singular focus. That was to start our own label,” Nandita speaks up. Today, the two retail out of Hong Kong, Dubai, London, New York, Jakarta and through Kimaya stores in India. “As students you are unclear of your future. So were we but we kept on track and worked hard towards making the dream come true,” the two chorus out the advice.

Since they are all set for Autumn-Winter 08 and are already working for the summer ahead, we couldn’t help but ask them to dish out trends. “The colour grey is in. As far as ensembles go, low-waist is out and high-waists are in,” lists out Nandita as Hemant adds, “We did a range of high-waist skirts and trousers in our Fashion Week collection as well. There’s a lot of masculine fashion for women like cuffed shirts, formal trousers, shirts et al,” sums up Hemant. Got it!

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