Reviving the rich heritage

When it comes to fashion, India seems to have achieved a global recognition of late. Many international designers are seen  incorporating Indian designs and textiles in their work.

This increase in popularity of Indian fabric art  is largely thanks to the talented designers that India produces every year. With an intention to bring the rich Indian culture and heritage of textiles and weaves to an international platform, these young designers are doing every bit to showcase the treasures that India is blessed with.

Among others are designer duo Vineet and Rahul, of the label VineetRahul, who make it a point to focus mostly on Indian weaves and textiles in their creations. The NIFT, Delhi graduates have been closely associated with the fashion industry for the past seven years and they came up with their independent label three years back. Their love for hand block prints and handcrafted textiles and embroidery can be spotted in every outfit they touch.

“Our clothing line has a modern approach to it. We are inclined towards a couture line and we design formal as well as casual wear for women,”says Vineet.

The duo will be participating the upcoming ‘Lakme Fashion Week 2016’. Their latest collection is dedicated to the modern women of India and the collection comprises of jackets, dresses and blazers among others. “Suiting the urban needs and tastes (since women don’t want to dress up in the typical style salwar-kameez), we have focussed on bringing a twist to the Indian wear. There are kurtas and saris that are given an unusual touch in this collection. ‘Kantha’ and ‘Zardozi’ embroideries are also given a new twist. Though the approach is modern, all Indian sensibilities have been kept alive so that we provide sustainability and employment to the rural sector,”explains Vineet.

The duo is concentrating on catering to women of all age groups and on designing clothes of all genres. Vineet talks about how the colours used are global in nature but the way that these hues are fused with Indian embroidery and international motifs make for a different genre altogether. “Our latest collection is inspired by Goddess Lakshmi and we have given her a new avatar. It is inspired from the myth about the moonless night when she descends.  And the moment she does, the surroundings transform into gold,” says Vineet. The duo's main motive behind this collection is to revive the Indian embroidery scene.

They have involved a lot of twists and given embroidery a modern outlook. Today people want to sport something unconventional wherever they go and this need encourages designers like them to come up with variations, says Vineet. “We usually use handwoven ‘Bhagalpuri’ and ‘Chanderi’ silks for our collections. And weave them with ‘Zardozi’ and ‘Kantha’ embroideries,” he adds. The colours used for the new collection form a rich palette and involve hues like midnight blues, charcoal grey, bright ‘kumkum’ red, ‘panna’ (emerald) green and ‘chandi’ (metallic) grey and a lot of gold.

So what are they expecting from the upcoming fashion week? He says, “This year it is all about the presentation of reviving what we have. We are expecting people to see something new in terms of the crafts that already exist in our country,” says Vineet.

Having been in the field of fashion for so long, he says that the duo has faced a lot of challenges. The handwoven bases take a lot of time. It is not a controlled environment in the handloom sector. “There are a lot of problems we face in terms of getting the fabric woven, or getting enough artisans (as they are limited in number). As a result, sometimes the production capacity drops down drastically,” says Vineet.

However, the duo doesn’t look at this as a hassle but as an inevitable consequence of the  privilege of working to revive the heritage of India. He advises young designers to go green and to take a conscious effort to promote handloom and handcrafted products. These crafts are dying and it so happens, India will have nothing to present from her end internationally,” he says.