Royally desi

With an array of textures, patterns and colours, David Housego and Mandeep Nagi derived inspiration from Indonesian Bebali to curate the richness of Indian textiles in their latest collection, says Chahak Mittal

An interplay of vibrant and opulent fabrics, embellished prints and patterns, intricately-knitted textiles, all hues bright and bold — fuchsia, mahogany, navy, and cinnamon, present just the right mix for a festive and wedding collection. The apparel range at Shades of India with its handwork and traditional craftsmanship has maintained the elegance of festivities.

The brand, led by Mandeep Nagi, design director and David Housego, former UK journalist, showcases what following your passion can take you towards. Nagi believes, “The inspiration behind starting SOI was the love of textiles and an attempt to present the Indian ones on the global map. That’s what we actually did, and we still do a lot of exports and international client dealing.”

Apart from classic sarees, contemporary kurtas, long skirts and playful shararas in ethereal silhouettes, handwoven dupattas and stoles, frame bags, neck pieces, the collection also showcased bedsheets and room decor materials, curtains that borrowed their textures from nature. This time they have also introduced a men’s wear collection, in collaboration with Anupam Poddar, called Duet. The various textures, patterns and colours combined ethnic with a modern twist which could be seen in the classic kurtas, semi-formal Nehru jackets, shirts, woollen phirans for winter functions.

Balancing antiquity and modernism with bold designs doesn’t come easy. Nagi shares how her craftsmen are trained well by them and about how she derives the inspiration behind her venture from the streets of Indonesia, “Most of my inspiration comes from Bali, Indonesia. The name of the collection is Bebali, which in Indonesian stands for the ceremonial attire for gods, and hence is inspired by Indonesian textiles.”

There were silks and velvets in intense shades of emerald, maroon and navy. Nagi explains her fabrics choices and how these are rooted in the Indian traditions, “Fabrics are an art symbol. India is rich in textiles and most Indians inherit a love for them through their mothers or grandmothers. Usually, they wouldn’t throw away anything that they got from parents in marriage. But while we traditionally love textiles, now we are so busy that we want to wear something that is convenient, easy, quick and comfortable to wear. We have worked keeping both — convenience and the festive season in mind.”

The apparel designers including Nisha, Mehak, Pallavi and Ambuja, who discovered their forte with the textiles spoke about their working patterns and the collection which is “not exactly bridal, but as per the festive and wedding season.” “We do a lot of experimentation with the fabrics, and the textiles and a lot of detailing. The combination are all separate, and some mix and match with the attire. We take inspiration from the trends every season, brainstorm with Mandeep and David and do around five to six seasonal collections in a year including autumn, summer, monsoon range, pre-festive, and then wedding and festive season. This one is the last seasonal collection of the year,” says Ambuja.

For someone who has been around for more than three decades, Nagi believes, “Such intricacies and detailing comes naturally to us. We love textiles and love to collect and fuse them with one thing or the other. Our love for textiles is more than 30 years old.”

The apparel house doesn’t follow trends, but has a versatile approach to make the experience rich and special “for all festivities and occasions, rather all kinds of events,” says Nagi.

For David, it was “a leap of faith in the dark,” who went from being a journalist for 25 years to a huge textiles collector in India. However, it was his love for these textiles which took him to Paris and across the world. He shares the idea behind the name of the brand, “We tried a number of names. When we started, textiles in India were not recorded. However, to bring in the culture and concept of Indian textiles, we decided that the name of the brand should very much relate to the Indian culture and heritage. I firmly believe that India is extremely rich in terms of textiles. We take fabrics from across the country, some fractions of silk are imported from China.”