CHENNAI: While Chennai is known for its love for saris, designer Narresh says he has seen the side of the city that is in love with resort and swimwear too. “Chennai as a market has been great for us when we first launched our collection here four years ago. What took us by surprise was the demand for gowns in the sizes of medium and large. It just shows the matured fashion sense the city has,” he says. “However, our brand targets the honeymooners and holidayers,” he adds.
Known for designing swimwear, bikinis and trikinis, the brand Fontana by Narresh and Shivan, takes inspiration from Italian painter Lucio Fontana who was famous for experimenting 3D images on 2D canvas. “His paintings were as minimal as just a slash on the canvas. This might seem as negative for some, but we were pleased by its aesthetic sense and took it up as a challenge to incorporate it on clothes,” says Narresh.
According to him, the swimwear has been designed keeping the Indian woman in mind. “If you see the past, in our civilisation, there are accounts of ghats and women indulging in public bathing, in groups. So bathing wear is not a Western aspect at all,” he says. “Our designs are culturally rooted, and we have put in thought not to make women feel odd in them. We don’t use European cuts, our cuts are more modest along the thighs, and we make sure it suits the figure of an Indian woman, who has a rounder waist and a wider chest. Also, there is a generous splash of green, blue, yellow and red, because Indians love colours, ” he adds.
The collection will be showcased at Evoluzione, Khader Nawaz Khan Road, on December 20.