EDITOR’S LETTER Hello folks! A very happy Independence Day to you all. We, at Styletag, are celebrating Independence Day with an extremely special endeavour… we are breaking out of our old mould and presenting to the world a wholly new avatar, a makeover of www.styletag.com that is fresh, crisp and elegantly chic. We swear by consumer experience and it’s in a bid to constantly improve our services and the way we reach out to our users that we have moved on to a platform that’s easy to navigate and use, without requiring much time. Independence and patriotism is also the theme of the second Styletag issue. Our cover story discusses the revivalist movement of Indian fabrics and textiles and the reasons why the spotlight is on everything that is home-grown. You’ll also find some interesting features on how to express your love for the country in tri-colours. Read on and hope you enjoy the magazine and the new face of Styletag.com. Editor, Styletag PS – Write to us at editor@styletag.com with your thoughts.
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Editor’s top picks Top India-inspired fashion picks
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Fashion horoscope Choose what you wear according to your sunsign
Rise of the Indian fabric A look at the star of Indian ramps - home-produced textiles
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We see you Bollywood celebs at the Couture and Jewellery week
Beauty & Grooming Get Tricolour nails and eyes
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India-inspired motifs, colours, silhouettes, embellishments‌ when it comes to style, the ethnic ethos paints a cheerful and a pretty picture.
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The bull motifs, graphic art, cool autorickshaw inspirations‌ kitsch Indian-street art pay homage to, and takes another level, all tha is popular as well as ordinary.
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hy ys s to at s
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Give your patriotism a chic expression with these accessories and apparel. (It helps that orange and all its shades are such a statement these days!)
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White represents eternal calm on the Tricolour. It is also one of the most loved colours this upcoming season. Easy elegance, in keeping with the spirit of Independence Day.
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Embellishments – gold, silver and in other hues – have been one of the biggest style exports from India. Here, we continue with that legacy from all that is shine and jazz!
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F
a – in In wov – ha follo on s after deca geor shee mad
Indian handloom and organic fabrics have seen a sudden appreciation on the fashion and couture week ramps in the past few seasons. Aparajita Mukherjee takes a look at the reasons behind such revival.
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Whil broc still work who fash work of th as lehe elem of r herit igno rece colle regu wee of sh jute, hand of O Ben
abrics with Indian origin – material which grows ndia and is cured and ven by Indian weavers as seen a sudden fanowing on the ramps and shelves, and this comes r a long hiatus and a ade of reign of chiffons, rgettes, lace, polyester, er and other machinede fabrics.
le fabrics such as cade and silk were the mainstay of the k of a few designers o specialised in ethnic hion, the handloom ks from different parts he country – art such patola, ikat, kantha, eriya, kanjeevaram, the ments that form the map rich Indian handloom tage – were largely ored. However, the ent couture and bridal ections, besides the ular fare of the fashion eks, have thrown up a lot hows which patronised , hemp, organic silk and dloom from weavers Orissa, Benaras, West ngal, Rajasthan, etc.
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Madhu Jain
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adhu Jain, a New Delhibased textile historian and designer, who has been working with the marginalised artisans and weavers from different parts of the country, recently presented her design collection called “Rare Retrospectives” in Mumbai and Delhi. The collection, which is inspired by the Lord Jagannath of Puri, saw her working closely with weavers from the Bargarh handloom cluster in Orissa. The collection has a recurring theme of temple dancers offering flowers and other gifts to Lord Jagannath as well as his two consorts.
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Textiles are finally coming back and seeing a moment of revival after almost a decade of having been out of sight.
Talking about the revival of Indian fabrics and the rise of the local weave, Jain says, “Textiles are finally coming back and seeing a moment of revival after almost a decade of having been out of sight.” Ask her what she thinks the reasons for this forgetfulness towards what is rightfully a national heritage are and she says, “There is a lack of expertise and knowledge about textile and handloom. Machine-made fabrics are easy to deal with and that’s why, young designers favour it.” She also mentions that now, since handloom has experienced near-death, weavers have become difficult to work with. “Weavers aren’t the easiest people to deal with. There is a lack of trust because of years of being swindled by middlemen. It’s difficult to convince them to trust us.”
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What’s the charm of organic & handloom? O
rganic and handloom hold a special charm for being “pristine,” says Divyam Mehta, a designer who has been working with handloom and weavers since he started his career in 2006 in fashion designing. He says that the fact that organic and handloom products leave lesser carbon footprints behind is also another reason for their charm. “If it’s a natural fibre, then it is harmonious with Mother Earth and won’t harm the environment.” We ask him what got him curious about such fabrics as they can be tedious to work with. Mehta responds, “My mother wears a lot of handloom sarees, so that is the first thing that got me interested.”Divyam Mehta studied designing at Pearl Academy of Fashion and London College of Fashion. He designs occasion-wear with contemporary and Western aesthetics. “Designing Western silhouettes using Indian weaves is a challenge. These kinds of fabrics lend themselves with a lot of difficulty to contemporary designs but it’s an exciting and creative task to undertake.” He is working with Ajrakh prints – a technique from Gujarat which requires six levels of craftsmanship before it is ready for use.
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Divyam Mehta “I have been developing these textiles for 2 months and it will be another 3 months before the textile is ready,” he says. Then, the textile will be ready to lend itself to silhouettes such as trousers, jackets, etc. “While one would generally work for the next year’s fashion weeks when working with machine-made fabrics, you have to work 2 years in advance when working with Indian textiles,” says Divyam. The rising popularity of home-grown fabrics can be attributed to an increasing consciousness for all that is “national” amongst the upcoming designers. There is also the strong desire to be different. “The designers are finally waking up to what could be the longlasting USP of Indian fashion. Firstly, it [use of handloom] makes a nice statement and secondly, world-over, international designers are doing a better job with machine-made fabric. The young Indian designers can create better designs with our own fabric.”
Problems faced by the weavers... H
andlooms and the artisans involved with it have faced a lull thanks to the increased demand for machine-made fabrics such as georgette, chiffon and lace. And this problem has been accentuated with the introduction of NREGA – National Rural Employment Guarantee Act – says Jain, which leads the weavers to not want to fight the decline of handloom. “I am saying this only from the perspective of protecting handloom and weaving business. Since NREGA exists, weavers are not easily convinced or encouraged to get off and work on fabrics.” Handloom and weaving business also faced a lull because it was not respected enough, says Mehta. Both Jain and Mehta agree that people of the country need to start taking more pride in the home-produced fabrics for this revival to really become a movement and a beneficial trade for the country. “Weavers will maintain quality if they are paid for it. The pride in our local craft really needs to rise,” says Mehta decidedly. Jain also opines, “Responsible social figures can pitch in here and create an awareness… if they embrace these organic fibres, they will give back to the society in more ways they can imagine – they will be making people move towards what belongs to them.”
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FASHION HORO
N OSCOPE Know your style quotient according to your rashi!
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Independence Day is the day of celebrating freedom of emotio it loud and say it right with the tricolors. Get the saffron, indi and on your nails – let them sit up and notice! Get into the fervor of patriotism with nails colored bright and sparky in saffron, white, green and indigo – learn from this video! (Courtesy Melissa, www.TheDailyNailBlog. com, who was in India for a couple of months and made this video as a tribute to Indian national flag.)
Sa Pa You nam Be as
Sty (fo for (Cl
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ons, of thoughts, of creativity. Say igo, white and green on your lids
affron-green on our mind… (And our eyes and lips too!) ast season’s palette has been big on bright colours – on ensembles and off it. u can play with bright colours in your clothes, shoes, bags, jewellery… you me it! esides apparel and accessories, you can also play with jewel tones of makeup they make a head-turning statement.
yle tip: If you have bright colours in your clothes, then go for nudes for elsewhere or accessories as well as makeup). Or if you have bright colours such as green r your eyelids and tangerine for your lips, then go for pastels in your apparel. lick on the link, courtesy Princess Jo, to see how to get the “patriotic” look.)
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Anil Kapoor for Raghavendra Rathore
The past month was a visual and sensual treat for all those who love couture and elaborate fashion. With Delhi Couture Show 2013 and Indian Bridal Fashion Week 2013 happening back-to-back, the designers gave us an array of looks and collections which wowed and left us craving for more. Really. Here are a few showstoppers from these shoes… while all of them looked lip-smackingly gorgeous, are there any clear favourites for you? PS – Anil Kapoor and Kabir Bedi were the only ones from the not-sofair sex; they rocked and took over the stage and showed that age isn’t a requisite for making jaws drop!
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Tabu for Anju Modi
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eha Dhupia for Falguni-Shane Peacock
isa Haydon for Tarun Tahiliani
Kabir Bedi for JJ Valaya
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Esha Gupta for Adarsh Gill
Kangana Ranaut for JJ Valaya
Chitrangada Singh for Suneet Varma
Nargis Fakhri for Ashima-Leena
Sonam Kapoor for Rohit Bal
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