Fashion, the world over, is washing its dirty linen in public
Fashion, the world over, is washing its dirty linen in publicOkay, rephrase. International pop singer Lady Gaga's Bad Romance has turned into something of a sensual trend, with lingerie peeping out of clothes that dominate designer runways at Paris and New York Fashion Weeks. At LFW, Sabyasachi Mukherjee took the first step. Not just at dragging bedroom clothing into public but also venturing into a territory he's not associated with. A vermillion runway played gallery to a hammock of twinkling lights, while the passionate strumming of Mexican guitars built momentum cracked by the sight of a model sporting rose-tinted glasses, her disheveled hair held together in a haphazard bun. The constant clatter of Kutchi beads played ambient music while the audience tried taking their eyes off the granny panties she was wearing.
"It's mid-life crisis," Sabya laughed, "I finally wanted to do an edgy collection; see life through rose tinted glasses. It's more honest, brazen, more Sabyasachi than anything I have done before." And Sabya did it, but not without doing his bit for Indian textiles. The collection was created from 100% khadi, some of it 500 count-khadi woven through a complicated process now confined to remote villages in Bengal, and sold mostly to Japanese clients. Checked shirts unbuttoned to show off brassieres, bell bottoms, exposed-stitch jackets, Baroque embroidered sleeveless jackets u2014 the primitive picture developed as the show progressed. Small checks enlarged into Gingham, and the armholes of sleeveless jackets dropped almost to the waist. What perhaps could be perceived as sweet surrender to commercial constraints, the line used Swarovski, rhinestones, even safety pinsu00a0 "burned and tortured to give it a final finish".
Stray verses from Islamic texts appeared on a shirt's fold and a Kaffiyeh with beads dangled on its border. That was a definite distraction, and so was the music. It varied from soundtracks from Frida Kahlo (Mexican), Cinema Paradiso (Italian), Evita (English) and La Vie En Rose (French). Then it all came together to create a mish-mash that's so Sabya and so saleable.
