Extending Borders

Today,Atsu is a slightly changed man. The Naga identity he wore casually will be his formal jacket when he takes a bow next month at the Wills India Fashion Weeks Spring Summer 2013 edition. Late as it is,but medias recent attention towards fashion,music,culture,craft of the Northeastern states is welcome,he says. This is the time to put out a voice which nobody heard earlier, he says. When we spoke to him earlier this week,Atsu was in Nagaland preparing for his new collection,focusing on his state for fashion inspiration something he has never done. Instead of saturating his collection in the grammar of tribal colours blue,black and red,or cutting out woollen shawls to make dresses,he wants to contemporise them in European colours. Replacing wool with silk will enhance wearability,he feels. I want to take this collection to an international trade fair too,for which I must make it universally appealing and subtle. Even so,it will have an authentic Naga stamp. The colour red is in fashion forecasts for Spring-Summer , he asserts.

The resurgence of the Northeast as one of Indias core unsettled political regions is an excellent opportunity for a recognisable identity,say designers. The recent announcement of the Shillong Fashion Week isnt incidental. Should the plans go through (a proposed Guwahati fashion week in 2010 never took place due to protests),the two-day event may open up fashion diplomacy. One day will be dedicated to fashion seminars and shows by local designers; on the next day,popular designers from Delhi and Mumbai will display their collections. It is yet to be seen if buyers from cities will flock to Shillong for northeastern clothes.

Emerging designer Jenjum Gadi,who will showcase at the Shillong Fashion Week on October 18 and hails from Arunachal Pradesh,too favours this positive if sudden cultural diplomacy. His next collection has nothing to do with his home state but he says,Our states have been neglected for too long. I only hope that this is not a fleeting interest but sustains beyond a political agenda.

That is the clinching point. And,in fashion,it doesnt concern itself only with a poetic neglect or cultural reluctance of fashion organisations. It is not as if a dozen trail blazing designers from the Northeast have brought in a new tide in Indian fashion. Emerging Naga designer Imcha Imchens collections were inspired by his home state but he needs to push the themes to make a consistent point. GenNext designer Asaboy Kazingmei,who debuted last month at Lakme Fashion Week found himself at the receiving end of a slew of internet critiques from fellow Nagas for using the red shawl traditionally intended for men to create female costumes. The response to Atsus Naga inspired collection is still to be seen. Suspended between a crunchy past and a potentially fertile future,fashion from the Northeast may need much more than political correctness from fashion week bodies or the government. Given that some prominent fashion bloggers are Northeastern too,it may not be a bad idea for them to join voice with the cause and write about contemporary,non-ethnic routes for mainstream stores to discover and enjoy what their states have to offer more than just changing fashion.

shefalee.vasudevexpressindia.com