Manish Malhotra Autumn Winter 2013 WIFW Day 3

Friday, March 15, 2013

Manish Malhotra's show on Day 3 of Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week Autumn Winter 2013, was as grand and star studded as a finale event with model/ actors Jaqueline Fernandez, Esha Gupta and Siddarth Malhotra gracing the ramp ..... It was a show in typical Manish style .... The reigning God of Bollywood fashion and master craftsman showcased another brilliant traditional heritage art .... Phulkari and Bagh .... in his collection titled "Threads of Emotion" ...... A very apt title considering the art of Phulkari embroidery ( more about its history below) is a symbol of maternal love and faith .... usually passed on from mother to daughter as an ancestral tradition !! ... Montages of old Punjab in sepia prints flashed on screen segueing into beautiful embroidery pieces ....... Phulkari, a rural tradition of handmade embroidery, literally meaning “flower work” is an auspicious, head cover (odhni), embroidered by the versatile fingers of Punjabi women .... Embroidering on a Phulkari reveals a lot of ground cloth .... A variety of characters, forms and designs are scattered and embroidered on a Phulkari ..... With time Phulkari became increasingly elaborate and decorative which led to the evolution of a special ceremonial, Bagh Phulkari ...... Bagh literally means “garden of flowers”, and the term distinguishes the flowered Phulkari in that the embroidery is so profuse that the ground colour is no longer visible thus the embroidery becomes the fabric itself ..... Unlike Phulkari, Bagh demands more time and patience and more material, thereby increasing the expense ..... Thus Bagh set out to be a status symbol !! ..... Manish being Manish reinterpreted this ancient art form for the modern generation with his classic structure and superb detailing, which he is so famous for, especially among the Red Carpet crowd !!

Manish Malhotra winking as Esha Kapoor applauds Wills India Fashion Week AW 2013

The Collection

Manish was inspired by his friend who is a collector of Bagh for 20 years. Talking to the Media post show, he said that he "liked the whole transparency thing (commenting on his net blouses and sheer backs) .... Women's backs are so sensuous ..... Men's eyes are always on the back ... the flow of a woman is very beautiful ..... and the Phulkari work is very young spirited, very energetic, very modern .... It's an Autumn collection .... So there is a lot of velvet trimmings, silk trimmings, textures, on women ... used georgette, net fabrics ... On men... woven fabric, too much texture ..... Its a diffusion line, not couture ... So pricing is lesser .... I wanted to reach out to a lot more people " ..... The collection featured Saris, Anarkalis, Angarakhas, Bandhgalas and structured clothes .... The primary fabrics used was georgette, net and raw silk in mustard yellow, navy blue, rust, earthy olives and intense reds .... We instantly fell in love with Esha Gupta's black sheer net saree with red n gold Phulkari on the bottom with a deep red silk underskirt .... so modern, chic and timeless !! .... S particularly loved Jaqueline's Bagh Achkan in rust, red and blue ( psst ! D thinks S was busy planning her wedding trosseau collection in her head while watching the show heheheh :D ) .... Do look at these beauties and sigh with us peeps !!

Manish Malhotra Autumn Winter 2013 Wills India Fashion Week

Manish Malhotra Autumn Winter 2013 Wills India Fashion Week Esha Gupta, Siddharth Malhotra, Jaqueline Fernandez

The Music

The music was incomparable .... starting with Cheb/Sabbah's Qalanderi .... to Kaya Project's Vijaya, Nothing Without You ( Sanu Ek Pal Chain Na Aave) and The Game by the legendary Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan and ending with the joyous Punjabi beats of Drummer's Reel by Dhol Foundation .

History of Phulkari

The origin of Phulkari has not been traced. Where, Phulkari has been mentioned in the famous, Punjabi folklore of Heer Ranjha (a love tale) by Waris Shah. “Its present form and popularity goes back to 15th century, during Maharaja Ranjit Singh's Reign”.
Phulkari plays a very important role in a girl’s life. Birth of a girl marks the beginning of the child’s grandmothers task in creating the future bride’s trousseau, which is worn by the bride when she walks around the sacred fire during her wedding ceremony. When a woman gives birth to a boy she is given a Phulkari which is worn by her when she goes out for the first time after delivery, and during any religious festivals. Likewise when a lady dies her body is covered with Phulkari.
Phulkari was never fabricated for sale; it was embroidered by a family for its own use, for every important moment in their local life like wedding, birth, and religious functions, therefore the birth of this handicraft was mere domestic necessity and not any artistic motive. Finishing a “Phulkari” signifies an important step for a girl to become a woman, as is mentioned even in the holy book for the Sikhs ““Only then will you be considered an accomplished lady when you will yourself, embroider your own blouse.”
The embroidery work was made on a plain cotton fabric (khaddar) whose thread was manually spun, loomed and dyed with natural pigments, which would be joined either before or after the embroidery to form desired designs. Khaddar could be of various colours, but the most popular was red (red being auspicious), and it was considered as a colour for youth whereas white was used by mature women or widows.
The embroideries were a mere reflection of their life. Things that they see, observe, vegetables that they eat, animals that they owned, were embroidered. Every woman had her way of embroidery, her way of representing. Just like any other daily chores she would teach this art to her daughter, thus there are no techniques or patterns that have been documented. For the same reason each family had their own styles, patterns and designs.
Embroidering on the rough coarse material “khaddar” reflects the tough, hard nature of the Punjabi women. Use of bright colours portrayed the colourful life and the use of different motifs reflected their observation, their imagination. Wearing a “Phulkari” adds delicacy, grace, simplicity to their heavy build personality. - Wiki link to Design Resource on Phulkari /Art of Stitching by Sonal Gupta, Industrial Design Centre (IDC), IIT Bombay

Phulkari

Bagh

Above is the Phulkari and Bagh samples .... If you observe, the Phulkari is sparse with the base of the cloth showing, whereas in the Bagh sample, the entire surface of the base cloth is hidden by embroidery !
Hope you enjoyed the post people, stay tuned for more :)

DS

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Labels: 2013, autumn winter, fashion, Fashion review, Manish Malhotra, Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week

Manish Malhotra Autumn Winter 2013 WIFW Day 3

The Collection

The Music

History of Phulkari

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