Fashionably Faithful

So,what has triggered this trend? There are no standard reasons. Says Ahmed,I have a big family. My children insisted on particular styles,inspired by what actors and actresses wear. So,the best thing was to get them designed. And then,one of my daughters is getting married in November,so some of these outfits will be repeated.

For Lucknow-based designers,its thus a busy time of the year. Lucky,a young designer,is making salwar suits for customers from Varanasi and Allahabad. Her cuts are contemporary smaller kurtis with lycra churidars for women and kurtas with straight pants for the men. The fabrics are self-embossed,with minimal embroidery to highlight it. With TV and movies opening up a world of fashion,no design is off-limits for the people in small towns. If they have the money,they want to look like stars, she says.

Shalini and Imran,the designer duo behind the popular label,Twelve Roises,are busy designing shararas,churidar-kurtas and sherwanis for their clients. The duo,whose customised panel-designing and shaded sherwanis are quite popular in Lucknow,have clients coming all the way from Balrampur for Eid outfits. Says Imran,We need to keep it traditional and within a pre-decided budget. This means we cannot play much with lengths,but to make the outfits different,we experiment with colours and cuts. This,the designers have done by making sherwanis in velvet,and adding fishnet sleeves to shararas and ghararas,along with fishnet dupattas.

For the bling quotient,theyve used embellishments such as Swaroski crystals and semi-precious stones like turquoise.

As the wedding season follows Eid,people are opting for outfits that can be worn during weddings too. So,instead of the usual salwar-kameez,many are going for wedding outfits such as shararas and ghararas. Of course,for Eid,they are opting for light embroidery,which can be later highlighted with Swaroski,stones or sequins and even small patchwork holes made from agarbattis for creating a new outfit altogether, says Shalini.

Then,Eid outfits are also being designsed,keeping in mind that they can be worn to work or to small gatherings later. Shalini and Imran are designing sherwanis for women-on-the-go. For the woman who goes to work and wants to don an Indo-Western look,we have designed a sherwani with softer fabric,coupled with straight pants and churidar, says Shalini.

Basant Rai,a young designer known for his fusion outfits,is designing kaftans with lycra churidaars and straight pants for his clients from Lucknow,Bareilly and Gorakhpur. My customers are primarily youngsters,who may have moved to bigger cities but come back to town for Eid. They want outfits which they can wear both at home and at parties.

His kaftans have minimal embroidery and more of tukdi work a kind of patchwork in Kutch embroidery,which when teamed with a stole and churidar,can become traditional,while with capris and jeans,can turn contemporary. Colours are mostly bright red,golden,silver,green and turqiouse to make them fit to be worn at weddings.