Fashion weeks after fashion weeks with the same style of runway presentations can get monotonous, if not boring, for fashion watchers. And that monotony can cause one’s interest to wane. However, that wasn’t the case when fashion designers Vrinda Sachdev and Gurinder Singh of Qbik launched their Spring-Summer ’16 collection.
Presenting their creations in what can be termed as a seamless meeting between theatre and fashion, the duo presented their designs in a wedding-themed skit–that came with a twist–conceptualised by theatre personality Bubbles Sabharwal.
Talking about the idea, Vrinda Sachdev said, “It would have been very easy for me to have a show with models walking in the store, as we have a fairly large store, but we took that extra step because people are tired of fashion weeks. So I wanted to give them something they would enjoy. Bubbles aunty’s daughters have been coming to me for years, so I spoke to her about the idea my team had come up with.”
Elated by the successful response, Bubbles Sabharwal added, “The designer came to me and she wanted to do something with fashion and theatre. I was like, “Oh My God, it’s alljhaadi, raasta, road, cats and sabziwallahs here (Shahpur Jat), where are we going to do theatre?” Then we decided to do it amphitheatre style and instead of using a set, we used the shop, because it’s real. No one would have come here for serious theatre, so we made it fun, with a wedding–because what’s better than that to showcase clothes? And so it became a fun experiment.”
Conceptualised in a period of just 10 days, Bubbles termed it “flash theatre”, borrowing from the concept of a flash mob.
From choosing to go for a plus-size bride around whom the story was centered to the Bollywood thumkas–the presentation had a mix of exaggerated personalities that came with a realistic touch, showing off the clothes. While the characters gyrated and moved, one could make out the fall of a drape or the shimmer of the mukaish work on the fabric.
Bubbles added, “I’d love for more designers to do this–you have got be different. Nobody has that long-term vision. It made clothes come alive, clothes become interactive. Also, nobody expected a fat bride, but that’s how real life is–real fat girls marry good looking guys too, so it’s a real story.”
Be it chevron or pin tucks, for their Spring Summer ’16 line Vrinda and Gurinder have mostly brought back chikan in a renewed avatar. “The Spring-Summer collection started with us sitting online looking at chikan. That’s one style that keeps coming back, so we decided to get chikan back in our way. As a brand that specialises in Indian wear–Up in the Air (the name of the collection)–came about, as it’s very hot. So we decided to use georgettes and chiffons and used chikan as appliques by making it very indo-western and chic by using achunni of one piece, a lehenga of another or a kali from another.”
Well, if only fashion designers could make fashion more fun and engaging, and less serious, with such experiments, this is a format we could happily get behind.
[Source:- Intoday]