Fashion is showcased, discussed and forgotten. Style is what is created, evolves with time and stays forever. For 36 years, designers Didier Lecoanet and Hemant Sagar have reinvented their style in more ways than one. After 17 exciting years in France, creating over 30 collections as the members of the Parisian Haute Couture Syndicate, they decided to shift their base to India.
“We could see how pure artisanal creations were losing clients in Paris. That’s when we decided to make a transition,” Sagar says.
They set up a manufacturing house in Gurgaon to make the necessary shift from artisanal to semi-industrial collections. “By industrial, we don’t mean mass production. It simply means several mini-series of exclusive garments,” the designer adds. Their journey in India has been equally interesting.
They have not only showcased trendsetting lines but also developed Genes Lecoanet Hemant and Ayurgenic, an Ayurvedic line. The exhibition held last week at Bikaner House in Delhi was a window to their passion, perseverance and love for handcrafting techniques spread over their three decade-long careers.
The designer duo decided to curate an exhibition to let people have an understanding of the intrinsic research that goes into handcrafting garments and how concepts are re-imagined to become a commercial success.
“We did not want models to walk in front of an audience that doesn’t get a chance to have a closer look at what our fashion house actually stands for,” Sagar says.
The exhibition, titled Paris-New Delhi, From Haute Couture to the Technologies of Elegance, put forth some of their most talked-about pieces and the instrumental effort they put in to create them.
Of 40 creations on display, half were made in Paris between 1984 and 2000, and the other half at their Gurgaon Atelier between 2000 and 2017.
“In future, we want to take Indian tradition forward and have new versions for the younger audience,” Sagar says.