Urban and contemporary are synonymous with Anupamaa... and with good reason. While most designers continued to redefine a bygone era, she took time out to create sharp timeless looks. That is not to say that there were no references. Following Resort's sensuous-driven tour de force, the designer has taken a serious approach and references a powerfully transformative moment in textile history in the process.
''From the sixteenth to eighteenth century, Surat was the hub of textile action with its hand-painted textiles. I'm an obsessive collector and squirreled bits and pieces of palampores, coramandels and machilapatnam, snapshots from museums, pictures from books and pieces created in my workshops... pulling them out every now and then to fuel my imagination and belief in the power of our textiles. My focus is on the beauty and 'insane' colors of 'native' crafts,'' Anupama Dayal tells us.
Dayal's aesthetic is too strong for her design to be derivative. The ease of silhouettes and mad palette—red, indigo, haldi, baingani, paprika—are hers. To underline authenticity and timelessness, a sporty element infused it with energy and the results were gratifying. ''The looks cull from historical silhouettes like fluid draping. our textiles are well suited to drape and thicker layers are draped in accordance to the weather,'' she grins. Salut!
— JASMEEN DUGAL Photographs — ANUPAMA DAYAL
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