At the finale of the Woolmark International Prize held in January during Pitti Uomo in Florence, American designer Phillip Lim called this year’s winner—womenswear label, Bodice—“romantic, modern and relevant”. Ruchika Sachdeva, the woman behind the brand, stood humbled and elated.
Relevant. And effortlessly so. Perhaps that is the nerve the Indian designers have been able to tune into in the global arena. They translate their sartorial aesthetics steeped in the rich crafts, embroideries and weaves of the country into a vocabulary that is not restricted to demography, geography or seasons. Easy, effortless chic is what is winning over the offshore buyer. It’s India selling on the racks in a universal avatar.
Bodice’s winning collection emphasised on sustainable innovation—Ruchika made sharp winter coats, high neck tops, bomber jackets and dresses combining Merino wool and traditional kantha embroidery. “It’s the goal of good design to communicate stories of community and culture through clothes and make them relevant to the present. The judges were surprised by how the garments were seamlessly rooted in India but felt entirely relatable to international markets,” she recalls.
The designer, who graduated from the London College of Fashion, adds, “A Bodice customer is someone who appreciates good design. Women who lead busy lives juggle multiple roles. They want effortlessly stylish clothes that can segue from work meetings to cocktail evenings. She loves elevated classics with design details that stand out but don’t shout for attention.”
The young designer started working with Indian textiles and craft by integrating tradition and modern technology. “I don’t adapt my design aesthetic for different demographics. Bodice creates globally relevant clothes, with Indian roots,” elaborates Ruchika, who has worked in the studios of Vivienne Westwood and Giles Deacon, both of which gave her incredible insights into the creative process and how a successful business runs in the world of fashion.
Agrees Suket Dhir, who was the first Asian menswear designer to bag the International Woolmark Prize in 2016, “My clothes do not have to be Indian. Because I am one. So, when I envision a collection, I never think they should represent India.” For the Woolmark line, she translated ikat on Merino wool, used Karnataka’s folk kasuti embroidery, the ombre colour gradation through block printing, employed the weaves and craft techniques of eight states of India and created a collection based on comfortable global silhouettes.
“Innately inspired by India and evoked by my childhood memories, the clothes had nothing overtly traditional,” he adds. All this only refers to how our designers are engaging with the fashion demands of the world using Indian workmanship through a modish and intercontinental vocabulary.
Suket, a NIFT graduate, and a designer with an eye for whimsical prints, motifs and excruciating detail, never wanted the handspun fabric in his creations to carry that washed-out appearance they are famous, or rather, infamous for. “I create simple, craft-oriented clothes that last. Slow fashion can be luxurious, too. I grew up in India so the Indian-ness is ingrained in me. The trick is to tweak the visuals so that when anyone, anywhere, sees the details, they react with a twinkle in their eye,” says the fashion savant showing us a block-printed mulmul fabric in ombre, cute umbrella motifs and tiny raindrops—though the craft is hardcore Indian, the execution is not.
Affirms fashion designer Rina Singh, whose label Eka was the womenswear winner of the Woolmark regional round in 2016. “Fashion is saturated across the globe. Now the new definition is to make it relevant across cultures. If global brands can make clothes that cross boundaries, Indian clothes are capable of that as well. A label like ours has a unique design language because it brings to the fore what is intrinsic Indian, from its villages, but presents it in an elegant, easy way that can be enjoyed for its comfort. Indian fashion is not about only trousseau and wedding wear. The language of subtlety is gorgeous if denoted properly. Women across the world identify with that language,” says Rina, a graduate from the Wigan and Leigh College, the UK, who works mostly with linen, mulmul and khadi and beautifies them with innovative block prints.
Her Woolmark showcase was a sublime tribute to painter Amrita Shergill using jamdani and Merino wool in soft pastel shades. “The dresses were Indian in soul but global in their appeal because my muse was an internationally loved and revered figure and the clothes took from the chapters of her life, in India and Paris,” she explains.
This dream run on the world runway was initiated in 2014 when Rahul Mishra stunned the jury at Milan Fashion Week with his showcase. The first Indian fashion designer to win the prestigious International Woolmark Prize in the womenswear category, an honour earlier bestowed on Karl Lagerfield and Georgio Armani, Rahul innovated with the main material through intricate embroidery. Since then, he has been regularly showcasing his ware at the Paris Fashion Week.
“Embroidery so fine and delicate is done on handwoven chanderi and other textiles to prove how India can go global,” says the NID alumnus. The foundation is, of course, intelligent design. Like in a jacket that displays miniature mango prints, a prominent Indian pattern. “The world has woken up to the young and catchy side of Indian design. Why suggest Indianness with a paisley when you can get quirky a bright, colourful mango,” signs off Suket.