Having made a niche for themselves in pret, designer duo Pankaj and Nidhi presented their first couture show on the third day of the India Couture Week at Taj Palace Hotel in the capital. Known for their handcrafted wearable silhouettes, the duo’s collection, Mosaiq, was rather an enhancement of their pret line. “We wanted to do something new and handcrafted.
Since we are known for our craftsmanship, textures and wearable silhouettes, we wanted to bring them together to make a light and glamorous couture line,” shared Nidhi, after the show. Borrowing from the mosaic form of art that flourished during the Byzantine empire in the 6th-15th century AD, the designers recreated the same magic with artisanal dexterity on textiles.
Three-dimensional, hand-cut appliqués and precision inlay work with metallic fabric biscuits have been rendered on translucent tulles and satin organzas. Precise and geometric embellished motifs turn a medieval inspiration into a graphic vision for the future.
A perfect example of the ensemble, showstopper actress Aditi Rao Hydari donned a beautiful off-shoulder billowy blouse with dramatic sleeves in a colour that Pankaj describes as somewhere between pink and beige, and teamed it with a gold sequin lehenga.
“We wanted Aditi to wear our signature look. All the cutwork on her lehenga is cut with a small pair of scissors,” added Nidhi. To make their debut a success, the duo worked on the collection for eight months designing garments with the colour palette ranging from quarried greys, citrine yellows and sapphire blues to molten gold and silver in modern, red-carpet-ready silhouettes for the new-age woman.