Get into the spirit of the festival joie de vivre as you prep up for the season ahead
Text by Namita Gupta
Channel your inner stylist and look like you’re ready to rule the world this festive season. Uniquely draped, stylishly cut and aesthetically sewn to create a statement and tell a story, let each of your festival pieces speak volumes about you and your personality. Let it be about celebrating the special woman that is you, while celebrating the rich Indian history, tradition and culture. Go back to your roots and experiment with the beauty of Indian handlooms and try recycling, upcycling, recreating and reinventing with fashion. After all, your style should reflect you as a person and not one that blindly follows the latest fashion trends. Go all out and feel like one with the royalty as you oomph up your look with the right accessories. If minimal is what suits your personality, then play safe with an understated and elegant style. Just be who you are this festive season as you take a cue from some of these top notch fashion designers. Here’s everything you need to know about festival fashion…
Fashion designer Gaurang Shah states, “This festive season is all about celebrating grandeur along with the festive mood, vibrancy and colours. A perfect accompaniment to up the celebration is to own a beautifully hand painted kalamkari design created using natural dyed colours extracted from the bark and roots of plants, incorporated with the richness of kanjeevaram silks and accentuated with mukaish embroidery – a quintessential balance of shine and subtle. Handlooms also breathe air and are absolutely comforting. This season one can also opt for silhouettes like ghararas paired with short kurtis, long kurtas with pencil pants, lehengas with a lot of flair and of course the saree with long blouses. Kanchi-kalamkari, Organza- Kanchi, Khadi- Kanchi and Tussar- Kanchi are some of the fusion trends we anticipate as the newest trendsetters in the fashion world. Let me also add that these are my all time favourite saris and dupattas that still remain a must in every woman’s wardrobe no matter what is trending.” According to Gaurang with varied designs and innovative techniques used in weaving our Indian Handlooms, there is something for everyone to choose for every occasion.
We’re pumped about all the colour and celebrations that our Indian festivals bring with them. Talking of this year’s festive trends, designer Reshma Kunhi opines, “Ruffle sleeves on a kurti or saree blouse are in vogue this festive season. You can even have ruffles on the collars. Digital printed long silk gowns or printed silk skirts teamed with crop tops or long flowy tops are also trending. Fringes are a big trend this Autumn/Winter and for the festivals you can incorporate this trend on a kurti, crop top, sleeves or neckline or have them on pants, skirts, shoes, earring or bags. If you want a fusion look, try kurtis with asymmetrical hemlines, front high back-low kurti or C-cut kurti teamed with palazzo or crop pants. Also skirts are big this season – be it printed in silk or plain the fusion skirt trend is a must have this festive season. These can be teamed with cropped or long tops; even a long jacket or voluminous top teamed with cropped pants communicates a chic festive style. If you want to get a little adventurous, try a Dhoti drape with crop tops.”
The festive season is a time for hope, reunions, fun card parties and a euphoric and vibrant atmosphere and disposition. Designer Sounak Pushpita Sen Barat says, “Quite naturally the vibrancy percolates to the palette in your wardrobe; classical ethnic silhouettes in handlooms with delicate thread embroideries. This season leave behind the glitter and bling. It’s all about rustic subtleties, finer delicate finishes and a lot of flora/fauna embellishments done in 3D clusters. Allow for a marriage of contrasts where silhouettes could be western inspired but the embellishments and textiles are Indian traditional handloom. Wear a shirt kurta dress paired with linen palazzo pants and a sheer dupatta and you’re all set.”
Susan Fernandes, of Anu & Susan design label, agrees, “This time, we’ve designed our festival collection to sustain the festive spirit all through the year. Out with just-for-the-occasion bling, glitz and glitter. In with timeless, spirited colours, painstakingly dyed and designed in textural handloom cottons and silks. We’re celebrating more than fabric and cuts. It’s the detailing that makes our fashion enduring and fun. Look out for delicate batik work from Assam, tribal hand embroidery patches, whimsical stitch lines and all those little additions that keep your wardrobe, and this festive season, fresh and exciting for longer.” But for Anjali Sharma, French Curve, it’s all about going the whole hog with sparkles and glitter. Anjali says, “Stunning Indian luxe jewel tones will make the necessary rounds this festive season. Ladies are going to dress-up above all and accentuate with statement details of embellishment or jewellery. Anti fit casual clothing is likely to reappear in a dressier avatar in exotic fabrics. We are doing lovely soft velvets in minimal silhouettes combined with distressed brocades and muted gold artisanal work! The look is rich, understated and loud without a word!” Bring out the inner diva in you.
