The Lace Story

(How Adele Made Me Stop Worrying and Love Fashion)

By Raima

Pic: Getty Images  Creative: The Purplenista

 “This... stuff'? Oh. Okay. I see. You think this has nothing to do with you. You go to your closet and you select... I don't know... that lumpy blue sweater, for instance because you're trying to tell the world that you take yourself too seriously to care about what you put on your back. But what you don't know is that that sweater is not just blue, it's not turquoise. It's not lapis. It's actually cerulean. And you're also blithely unaware of the fact that in 2002, Oscar de la Renta did a collection of cerulean gowns. And then I think it was Yves Saint Laurent... wasn't it who showed cerulean military jackets? I think we need a jacket here. And then cerulean quickly showed up in the collections of eight different designers. And then it, uh, filtered down through the department stores and then trickled on down into some tragic Casual Corner where you, no doubt, fished it out of some clearance bin. However, that blue represents millions of dollars and countless jobs and it's sort of comical how you think that you've made a choice that exempts you from the fashion industry when, in fact, you're wearing the sweater that was selected for you by the people in this room from a pile of stuff. “

- Miranda Priestly, The Devil Wears Prada

Recapping Ritu Kumar's art deco collection at the WIFW finale

Hello lovelies,

Today, I'll be recpping about one of the premier fashion and trade events - the Wills Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (Spring-Summer 2013). Yes! Yes! I know its ended and I am a tad bit late, but I simply had to write about it here. So here it goes.

The event, which was organised by the Fashion Design Council of India, ended with a collection by the ueen of haute couture in India- Ritu Kumar. Her collection was completely inspired by the Art Deco style, a trend that was very popular during the 1930's. 

 Just like in architecture, Art Deco in fashion is all about structure! Structure with clean bold lines, shapely cuts, form and figure. Now, in her collection, Ritu Kumar primarily used motifs and moods of the era to offer a modern representation. The collection was a perfect juxtaposition of Indian traditional motifs and designs with art deco cuts. The collection primarily showcased dropped waistlines, bold forms and delicate embroideries that were juxtaposed with modern techniques and shaping, making the collection very graphic. Ritu Kumar primarily used silks in chiffon, crepe and twill in her entire collection.

Indrani Dasgupta for Ritu Kumar

Ritu Kumar's finale show had been divided into two parts. The collection in the second part of the show took inspiration from the Indian Freedom Movement, as well as, Art Deco. As you can see from the pictures below that the collection showcased European influence on Indian royalty during the pre-partition period.  This resulted in the use of rich tapestries, laces, brocades and embroideries. It carried forward the vintage mood of the previous segment but in its Indian avatar. The geometric motifs formed graceful curvilinear feminine lines of paisleys and chintzes in luxurious colors.

Noyonika Chatterjee for Ritu Kumar

In both the collections, the colour scheme primarily included rich reds, gold, black and jeweled ensembles reminiscent of the India of the mid 20th century with its Baroque influences and distinctive style of Indo -European fashion. The show stopper for Ritu Kumar's finale was Esha Gupta. I think she looked really beautiful in the outfit.

Esha Gupta as show stopped for Ritu Kumar

Ritu Kumar and Esha Gupta

I really liked Ritu Kumar's art deco collection. It is a beautiful amalgamation of Indian designs and motifs with the strong bold structure and lines of art deco. However, I feel that her collection is best for evening wear at traditional events, such as weddings. 

What do guys think?