From Canvas to Couture: A look at how designers are gearing up for ICW

As an audience, we often end up applauding the beautiful designs and how alluring the models look after a successful ramp show in any fashion week without thinking much about what goes behind that successful show. The anxious designers whose next ten minutes are going to decide the fate of the countless days of hard work put on the collection, the stressed models who wish to finish that perfect walk, and the equally perturbed backstage team who ensure that every show gets similar love and appreciation, there is more to the fashion shows than what we just see on the runway.

As the Fashion Design Council (FDCI) is set to celebrate its 15th Edition of the India Couture Week 2022 from July 22, we spoke to some of the participating designers and asked if they are also feeling the pressure especially when the event is returning to its physical format after two years and promises “blockbuster- twinkling stars, innovative ideas, and unbridled elegance” in the form of runway shows.

However, for most of them the pressure is more because the time is less.

Rahul Mishra, who just returned to India after the successful show on the opening day of the Fall 2022 edition of Paris Couture Week, has no time to breadth as he is busy spending his days and nights working on ‘Tree of Life Part 2’ collection for Couture Week.

“The preparation for couture week is at its peak right now. It’s also quite less time for us as we just returned from Paris, a few days back. Paris couture week was also physically, and mentally exhausting, and coming back to this show is quite challenging for me and my team. So, we are putting together the collection called Tree of Life. Part 1 was showcased at the Paris show and part 2 of that collection will happen in this so we are quite excited to showcase another version or an extension of what we did at Paris,” Mishra told Firstpost.

While talking about the idea behind the line, he said that growing up in India, we witness numerous instances of worshipping trees.

“My grandmother would tie a hand-spun cotton thread around a banyan tree, not far from our house. The memory of this routine, of the ladies of the house worshipping the tree to bless their families, is a precious one,” said the designer while talking about how the great Banyan tree is a god-like presence through our lives. “It is the visual of this very tree — where numerous mornings of seasons of the earth have passed —that flashed before my eyes each time I sat to sketch this collection.”

Some of the other names who are participating in fashion gala includes Anamika Khanna, Tarun Tahiliani, Anju Modi, Dolly J, Falguni Shane Peacock, JJ Valaya, Kunal Rawal, Rohit Gandhi + Rahul Khanna, Siddhartha Tytler, Suneet Varma, and Varun Bahl. Some of them are known for celebrating India and its rich culture through their designs and one would see the magic happening when glamorous models will sashay the ramp and walk in designs that are going to be trendsetters in the world of couture.

For many designers, transforming their imagination into reality with designs that required countless days is the most beautiful feeling ever.

Designer Duo Rohit Gandhi + Rahul Khanna said that they are excited to be back on the ramp with their latest couture collection, Fibonacci. “The collection had actually started much earlier in our head when we decided to venture into an all out couture zone as a brand. The ideation and process has taken about 3-5 months and each garment is made entirely by hand taking around 1800-2000 hours with intricately embellished embroideries of pearls, crystals, and metallic fringes,” they told Firstpost.

Ace couturier Tarun Tahiliani, who has got mastery in fusing Indian craftsmanship and fine textiles with the contemporary, international chic ensemble, is gearing up to showcase ‘The Painterly Dream’ at the Couture Week.

“Ironic as it sounds, the stillness of the pandemic gave me and the studio time to revisit what we do, and think about how to technically, movement-wise and flow-wise, make it experiential rather than just dazzling discomfort, as many evening and bridal Indian brands have reached,” the designer told Firstpost. The designer believes that a thing of beauty is a joy forever and creating exquisite clothes that feel like the skin is a part of sustainable fashion because then one will wear them again and again, value them, and pass them on!

“Targeted at global Indians who care for the comfort, fit, motion, and ease of the garments, this collection is an expression of something timeless in sensibility, global in appeal, and rooted in craft,” he said.

Rahul Mishra, who just returned to India after the successful show on the opening day of the Fall 2022 edition of Paris Couture Week, has no time to breadth as he is busy spending his days and nights working on ‘Tree of Life Part 2’ collection for Couture Week.

“The preparation for couture week is at its peak right now. It’s also quite less time for us as we just returned from Paris, a few days back. Paris couture week was also physically, and mentally exhausting, and coming back to this show is quite challenging for me and my team. So, we are putting together the collection called Tree of Life. Part 1 was showcased at the Paris show and part 2 of that collection will happen in this so we are quite excited to showcase another version or an extension of what we did at Paris,” Mishra told Firstpost.

While talking about the idea behind the line, he said that growing up in India, we witness numerous instances of worshipping trees.

“My grandmother would tie a hand-spun cotton thread around a banyan tree, not far from our house. The memory of this routine, of the ladies of the house worshipping the tree to bless their families, is a precious one,” said the designer while talking about how the great Banyan tree is a god-like presence through our lives. “It is the visual of this very tree — where numerous mornings of seasons of the earth have passed —that flashed before my eyes each time I sat to sketch this collection.”

For designer Anamika Khanna, her collection is an open field for experimentation stemming from an extreme need for change and pushing boundaries. “An awareness of the spectacular Indian silhouettes, textiles, and sentiments, we move to amalgamate something old, something new,” she told the writer.

The shapes of her designs are inspired by the “goddess” paired with deconstruction and pattern-making techniques. There is also reference to the ever exuberant tribal India, approached with an eye of modernism

Designer JJ Valaya is marking the completion of 30 years with his Fall-Winter 2022-23 line titled 'Alma'. "Every year, for the past 30 years, my inspirational journeys start somewhere deep in my soul and are triggered by something visual that was arresting …this is where I start my research, dwelling on the visual treasures I chance upon either in books or through travel…," said the designer.

Luxury couturiers Falguni Shane Peacock, who have received immense love and appreciation for their line globally with recent being felicitated with the prestigious Shiromani award at the NRI World Summit 2022, held at Dorchester, UK, preparing for the Couture Week is always a delight.

The designers take inspiration from the rich heritage of the French capital vis-à-vis the stellar works of art and architecture by some of the great masters of modernism. “The collection celebrates the land home to innumerable artworks and some of the most celebrated masters in the history of modern art and design— Chagall, Picasso, Braque, Le Corbusier, and the likes.”

The couturier also believes that as the modern Indian bride commences the new journey of her life with a whole new perspective, the narrative behind their line identifies with the ideology of embarking on a new adventure with confidence and certainty.

Also, in a time like now when digital domination has entered our lives like never before, it’s unfair to witness a reflection of that on the fashion runway. However, Amit Aggarwal will make sure that you don’t miss that as he is going to give a glimpse of that through his runway show. “It is also a kaleidoscope ode to the fact that we are at an interesting bend in time where the digital space accommodates those whimsical aspects to ourselves not accessible in the physical world,” he said.

The FDCI launched India Couture Week in 2008 in Mumbai and its maiden edition featured designers Anamika Khanna, Ashish Soni, JJ Valaya, Manav Gangwani, Manish Malhotra, Pallavi Jaikishan, Ritu Kumar, Rohit Bal, Suneet Varma, Tarun Tahiliani, and Varun Bahl. Over the years, the event has helped to establish the careers of numerous Indian couturiers, some of whom have also gone on to showcase their collections internationally.

Nivedita Sharma's work experience includes covering fashion weeks in Milan, Pakistan, Vancouver, Hong Kong, Dubai, and award functions like IIFA, and TOIFA. 

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