It's called the python dress, but it's going to take a bit of imagination for you to spot the anaconda here.
It's called the python dress, but it's going to take a bit of imagination for you to spot the anaconda here. The knee-length ensemble that sits on the neck lined by five metres of retro rock zippers, is craft from ikat, a weave native to Malay. 
The resist dyeing process traditionally used in this weaving technique has left bands of blue, white and purple across the dress. For designer Anaka Narayanan, it's "evocative of snake skin", and a labour of love (with just the neck taking close to four hours to complete).
The Chennai-based 30 year-old has parked herself in the city for three days to host a sale of her latest collection that she retails under the label, Brass Tacks. Dresses, spaghetti strap tops, cropped pants and kurtas in natural fabrics form part of the line priced at R 700 onwards.
When Narayanan visited her ikat supplier in Hyderabad earlier this year, a silk scarf caught her eye, and although she isn't a big fan of animal print, the scarf with it reptile skin-like aura "spoke to her".
And she might well be in sync with international trends since the biggest designers in Milan and Paris, including Roberto Cavalli have showcased animal prints for Spring/Summer 2011.
Narayanan works on limited-edition collections, and is partial to organic fabrics. But it's the cut she employs, bordering on edgy-experimental, uncommon in most Indian wear, that's become the USP of her collections that offer crepe, silk and cotton designs for you to sport to work, and that impromptu after-office drink.
At: Raintree, Sankey Road, High Grounds.
On: February 4, 5 and 6, 10 am to 6 pm
Call: 32723251
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