Vibrant shades of colours mixed with escapist and self-reflective themes makes Wonderland from Eka by Rina Singh a unique expression. The designer who recently showcased at the Lakmé India Fashion Week piqued our attention with the title…It’s Only a Dream. Excerpts from the interview:
Tell us about Wonderland. What was it inspired by?
Alice and the Tea Party! We turned it around as a costume-y drama. There is a lot of colour scattered around the collection. There are little pinafores, dresses and underlayers of organza. Also, expect big Peter Pan collars. And the show also was also like a tea party
making it quite theatrical...
How different is this collection from your previous ones?
This season we were also looking at how we create and how different it is, even though we use the same kind of textile techniques that were used by our artisans years ago. Additionally, during the pandemic, most of us were held behind computer screens. So we pixelated the motifs and created block prints. Similarly, on jamdani we created pixelated motifs, that we wove on lightweight cotton.
Tell us about the colour palette.
We’ve used pastel colours since that’s our USP and infused it with the brightest of hues. You will see a lot of whites, pretty light pinks and mellow yellows. At the same time, there is a very active yellow, a fuschia pink, and the brightest of corals that are coordinated with bright sky blue, lime green, and pistachio.
What are the fabrics you have chosen for this collection?
I always worked with handwoven natural textiles like handwoven linen, cotton, a mix of cotton and silk, a mix of linen and silk gingham, jamdani, and mull.
Walk us through the different silhouettes in this collection.
We have done some really interesting layering. There are more smocks and frock silhouettes. These have longer lengths but are also layered with ruffles and organza and laces. It is very delicate and poised. Then I added some masculine stripes and big checks in some very vibrant colours. It was almost like creating music.
What do your upcoming edits look like?
We have already worked on and shipped our autumn-winter collections. We also have the spring-summer for the next season in the works. And then there is the next collection which is a sobered monochromatic version that’s also crafted.
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