Past Meets Present At Mumbai Fashion Week

Mumbai’s Spring/Resort 2013 fashion week wrapped on Tuesday. In a roster of roughly 80 new and established names, most designers deftly balanced a modern sensibility with India’s rich legacy of fabrics, colors, surface ornamentation, and its most ancient silhouette—the sari. For instance, Sailex Ngairangbam (above, left) presented a pre-pleated sari topped with a T-shirt instead of the conventional, heavily embellished, rib-skirting choli. “My business was suffering because I wasn’t designing traditional Indian wear,” admits Ngairangbam. “Sadly, that’s where the money is. The way out, I figured, was to get into the sari and lehenga-choli space, but with modifications.”

Ngairangbam isn’t alone. “I’d be a fool to shy away from Indian craftsmanship,” says Kolkata-based designer Nupur Kanoi. Her Spring collection borrowed from masculine shapes like the Pathani (loose pants), safari suits, trenchcoats, and military jackets. The wares were sparsely embellished with Ari work, a technique native to Kashmir of using beaten gold on fabric.

Old and new sentiments were seen in Namrata Joshipura’s range of sorbet orange, acid yellow, and pop pink skirts, pleated palazzos, jackets, and shorts (above, center). A closer look revealed intricate Indian workmanship and proved she was willing to catch up with the present without abandoning the past. Meanwhile, Anushka Khanna collaborated with London-based artist Rewati Shahani to to transfer images of buildings and birds onto separates via digital prints, appliqué, beading, and threadwork.