The milling crowd that had come in from all the major metros of the country for the launch of Samsaara, a designer store on 100-ft road in Indiranagar in the City, was an endorsement of that tagline: Desh Badla, Vesh Badlo (The country's changed, change your attire).
Claiming to be the first of its kind in the City, the store stocks modern, contemporary and traditional wear designed by Deepika Gehani, Manoviraj Khosla, Asmita Marwa, sisters Mana Shetty and Esha Mehra, Neetu and Malini Agarwalla.
With top designers tailoring their creations to suit the changing sartorial tastes of Bangaloreans, Samsaara has something for everyone. "I love whites. The designs are simple, elegant and in keeping with modern tastes," socialite Ritu Mallya observed.
Hyderabad based designer Asmita Marwa, who loves to explore and experiment with natural fabrics, has a kurti cut for every occasion. They could be worn as a dress, over jeans and with a churidar as well.
Among her collections are Anarkali kurta churidars and tunics with Kalamkari and surface texturing on natural fabrics in earthy tones of green and brown.
She says she loves using muted colours that make them look as earthy as possible. "I design for the Indian woman. Not everybody has a figure like that of a model. The kurtis are cut to hide the bulges perfectly well. The work on kurtis have been kept to its minimum. I don't like too much bling," she adds. Asmita's kurtis go well with flats and even boots.
Manoviraj Khosla's designs were exclusively for men. He has chosen to use more of black and has played around with embroidery and block prints on formal and semi-formal men's wear.
Ravage's line comprises fusion ethnic wear such as sarees, tunics and salwar kameez with interesting motifs inspired by paintings of artist K K Raghava in their patent structured silhouettes. "The designs are contemporary and lean toward silhouettes. There's embroidery on the sleeve and on the border adding that ethnic feel to it," explains Neethu, whose Ravage could be worn with formals and casuals.
Mumbai-based sisters Mana and Esha showcased sequinned kurtis in prints, linen for daywear, a line of dressy silken jackets, tunics and collared kurtas in bandhini accentuated with brocade and zardosi in deep hues of blacks and maroons.
The designs are subdued and brocades, embroidery and zari have been woven together at the borders. This gives it a rich feel. "Ours has both western and Indian designs. We've played with Indian prints, zari and brocades," Mana says.
Ravi Bajaj, one of India's foremost designers, was also impressed by the designs at Samsaara. "Put two different things together and if it looks good then that's fashion. Anything is fashionable as long as people are dressing well," he says.
Nina C George
