Fashion goes rustic for the coming season. Designers return to their roots with fabrics and embellishment touches that reflect different parts of their states. In the 70s the rural look was popular as kurtas and lehengas with large cotton jholla bags were the order of the day. Jeans were teamed with khadi kurtas by both men and women and Tee shirts were unheard of. Back we go in fashion for 2010 for that retro rustic look for Spring/Summer when designers take the wearer to the rich crafts of India.
Designers like Aneeth Arora, Krishna Mehta, Imcha Imchen, Paromita Banerjee and Masaba Gupta are some of the names that have brought a blend of rural charm into fashion and combined it with western silhouettes. Aneeth Arora has worked with the hand block prints and embroidery of Kutch and Gujerati on crushed khadi and handloom cottons as her base.
Imcha Imchen has recreated the beauty of his Nagaland textiles and turned them into simple shifts and dresses as well as trousers and shirts for men. Krishna Mehta’s look for the coming season is inspired by the Kumbh Mela and the sadhus. It revolves around earthy tones, loose weave textures for tunics, kurtas, bundis, and cropped churidars. The fabrics are coarse with block prints that add a touch of glamour while the jacquard motifs for short jackets and long knee length coats have an ethnic feel.
Paromita Banerjee plays with fabrics from Bengal to give her summer line a fresh western touch but she remains true to her signature style of promoting the craft and materials of India.
Masaba Gupta has her typical look which she presents in her fusion clothes. There is a lavish use of black and white ikat which appears in nearly every outfit along with a mix of hand block prints and khadi weaves for the loose flowing shifts and dhoti pants as well as the quaint saris and cholis.
So if you are tired of those high tech fabrics then return to your roots and maybe do the environment and craftsmen a big favour.
