SAFED RANG Part 2 - Paromita Banerjee

Spring / Summer 2014

I always had a thing for Whites; pristine white with not a speck, was what our school uniforms were meant to be and so were your ‘P.T’ canvas shoes  ; if your answer sheet was white with not a speck of red marking meant you topped your class ! As I grew older, I was introduced to various connotations. White meant purity, serenity, unity etc. In Safed Rang, Part 2, Safed means the coming of age, the celebration of all things simple told in colour and techni-colour.

 SAFED RANG, Part 2 is a collection reminiscing our second fashion week collection ever; way back in the Summer of 2010. Itching to start from where we had left off , Safed Zari starts our first story in layers of Kora coming together with weaves of gold in Mangalgiri cotton checks, presenting the right amount of opacity and transparency such that the colours below it becomes muted and subdued. The silhouettes are contemporary versions of old classics. The classic white shirt undergoes a face-lift, silhouettes like the angarakha wrap becomes the short smart cape to be teamed with pants. Playing with the transparency and opacity of white, this story is about smart separates in classics. Gold striped pants in kora become the trendier version of the quintessential pajama silhouette of Indian Men, the world over.

The second story, Kala Safed adds black to the Safed- Zari in silhouettes like the ghera jama of Mughal times and kallidars of yesteryears. Accents of colour come in bursts just like the speck of sun on a monsoon day. Handwoven checks from Mangalgiri and Khadi from West Bengal comes in the form of black-white classic checks.

Rang – Birang is the story told in colour. Malkha khadi is introduced along with bright handwoven checks to tell the tale of colours gone wild. The brightest we have ever gone and what fun it was! Kallidar and shift kurtas in bright checks come in shades of nimboo-green / royal purple / rani / ferozi blue and mustard-turmeric along with rust, browns and onion pinks. Don’t miss our Rose-block in the form of placement hand-block printing in classic kurta shapes.

The collection is all about presenting a rooted India to the audience. An India where the finest of fabrics are cottons and Khadi, handwoven on looms; and they can be shaped into any silhouette of choice. We have chosen the ethno-contemporary path: where the fabrics and textiles remind you of India but in a very global context. You could be anywhere in the world and in a frame-of-mind where you are taking in all that you see around you, coming together in a burst of colour, context and culture.

Watch Out for Handmade Crochet Footwear with Chindi Tie-Ups!