Bengaluru

Fashionably yours: Bespoke, luxury brands marks Bengaluru fashion

Monika Monalisa

BENGALURU: After sitting in pyjamas all through 2021 thanks to the raging pandemic, 2022 turned out to be quite the opposite. Let’s just say it was a fashionable year with bespoke, luxury brands making their mark in the Bengaluru scene.

With many traditional designs like the bandhgala jacket with Indian embroidery coming back in a revamped manner, designs for men took a stronghold. According to ace fashion designer Manoviraj Khosla, there was a mix of Indian and western influences. “Whether beadwork or threadwork, embellishments or sequences, everything was reinvented. Jackets became more flamboyant, tuxedos were reinvented in different ways, embellishments, embroidery, loud prints and fabrics were out there. In 2022, men started dressing and being out there as far as fashion is concerned,” says Khosla.

On the luxury brand side, Louis Vuitton (LV) got quite a bit of attention after actor Deepika Padukone became their first Indian global ambassador. Rinimaa Borah, founder of the clothing brand Miss Momo, says it was a strategic move since the brand is trying to reach out to more people. “These luxury brands are priced at a certain range to make them exclusive. But now, they are trying to bring the price down. For example, LV’s multi-pochette was made of canvas instead of leather to make it more affordable to the crowd. It was quite a hit,” say Borah.

The whole idea of luxury brands – Gucci for instance – putting out a Deepavali collection shows that in 2022, India got much attention from international luxury fashion brands. “For the Dior Couture Autumn-Winter 2022-2023 collection at the Musée Rodin in Paris, the French house collaborated with the Mumbai-based Chanakya atelier to create age-old embroidery techniques,” says Borah.

Pink turned out to be the colour of the year in the fashion world after Valentino presented an all-pink collection at its fall 2022 Paris Fashion Week presentation. International stars like Anne Hathaway, Zendaya, Vanessa Hudgens and Jenna Ortega were spotted in pieces from the Valentino line. Here, celebrities like Aishwarya Rai Bachchan were sporting it too, during her Cannes Film Festival appearance. To add to the craze of pink, LV also recently launched its pump collection with the one in hot pink being the most popular one.

Heritage in fabric

“The most important development in the fashion world was the issue of sustainability being taken seriously. Both manufacturers and consumers now understand the importance of sustainability at every stage of the process. The death of Issey Miyake in August and Vivienne Westwood this week leaves a void that is impossible to fill. Both of them impacted the world of fashion and influenced it in many ways. The emergence of Reliance & the Aditya Birla Group as Unicorns to invest in fashion labels of India like Abraham & Thakore & Tarun Tehiliani bodes well for these designer superbrands! Indian models made a splash abroad in every fashion capital of the world.” Prasad Bidapa, fashion guru

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