DESIGNERS ARE HOPING TO ADD A GLITZY EDGE TO RAW DENIM BY MAKING IT CATWALK-WORTHY AS THEY PLAY WITH ITS TEXTURAL STRENGTHS AND COVERT GLAMOUR.
It took the Hit Me Baby One More Time crooner Britney Spears to finally announce the arrival of denim, when she wore an off-shoulder, body hugger on the red carpet during her short-lived dating days with Justin Timberlake. The trend hasn’t taken seen such glorious revival, but designers are attempting to take denim from the casual to uber cool rank.
The frontrunners in this attempt are designers Hemant and Nandita, who gave it a school-girl chic interpretation by combining it with prints and polka dots. ‘She is a flower girl’, the title of their SS ’14 line showcased at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, was a result of hectic travelling where they discovered the joys of denim, a carefree fabric that is used to the rough and tumble. “I observed on my many trips to Paris, New York and Vegas that people really love their denim, and wear it all the time while travelling. This was the inception of our line,” says Nandita.
Denim for every day, she says, is similar to brocade for an Indian wedding. It is a necessity.
Unfortunately, designers seldom give it credence and relegate it to just a trim, making it a ‘frill’ more than a fabric. “But we found denim comfortable, everlasting and sturdy. Plus, we did not play around with the originality; we kept it natural blue. Nevertheless, the drama was added by combining it with polka dots, heart-shaped motifs, floral prints and appliqué of flowers on
NANDITA, WHO ALWAYS KEEPS A DENIM JACKET HANDY WHETHER IT IS SUMMER OR WINTER, BELIEVES THAT FLORAL PRINTS ON DENIMS REALLY WORK WELL, AND THEY ADD A HINT OF GLAMOUR TO THE OTHERWISE RUGGED FABRIC
denim,” she adds. The yolks, borders, edges of dresses, frocks and blouses were executed with denim, teamed up with lace for a girlie charm.
“I must admit that my denim trousers proved to be a best seller. The advantage with denim is that it never goes out of fashion,” she smiles. Nandita, who always keeps a denim jacket handy whether it is summer or winter, believes that floral prints on denims really work well, and they add a hint of glamour to the otherwise rugged fabric. “I had hurriedly bought around 6–7 pairs of denims in funky colours like cobalt blue, canary yellow, tangy red to tangerine when I saw everyone wearing them, but now I realise it was only a fad. So I stick to wearing only my nice blue jeans, which I picked up from New York. I pair it with a chikankari kurti or a white linen top making it the most versatile garment in my wardrobe,” she laughs.
Pearl Academy of Fashion graduate Niharika Pandey is a lover of denim and has tried to contemporarise it in more ways than one, and that is just what she did for her autumn-winter 2014 line. Pandey embroidered denim and used it ingeniously as a show-stopping feature on her garment by using it as a double collar or trimming on dresses, along with caps and skirts with Devanagari script characters and raw edges and distressed shorts worn with one-shoulder gowns enlivened by kite prints; her denim corsets were well- received by the international buyers.
“In 2012, I had used the stories which we all grew up reading – The Panchatantra tales – in my line, and again used denim, with frog was to use it as a base fabric and my buyers from Milan loved it,” she adds. Interestingly, internationally too denimembroidery on denim pants, which I loved doing as it brought back a whirlwind of childhood memories. I retold the famous monkey and crocodile fable in my own way with a little help from denim. My effort
seems haute with Balmain’s Resort SS ’14 collection line being given a heady twist with splashes of patchwork and Chloe giving overt zipper details to fitted, American blue jackets. New York Fashion Week saw Rebecca Taylor and Rachel Comely put out shifts with exaggerated pockets and V-necks with unfinished hems exuding an easy-breezy vibe.
DKNY offered longer shorts in faded blue along with jumpers. Trina Turk went back to the 70s adding flares and pockets to her denims, while Nicole Miller gave J.Lo worshipping women ripped wonders. However, it is hard to forget Hollywood heartthrob Tom Cruise’s former wife Katie Holmes’ contribution to denim, when she flaunted boyfriend jeans, rolled up with a plain white tee making it au courant!
Niket Mishra, who did a short-term course from NIFT, fell in love with Jainee at one of the fashion meets and married her. According to him, denim has been one of his obsessions, which is why his WIFW SS ’14 line was aptly titled ‘Denim Revisited’. He worked with edged denim cords and denim strips scattered on natty blouses in an abstract form. Raw denim was interspersed with silk and chanderi to give each ensemble a unique interpretation.
“We did asymmetrical dresses and mixed denim with organza, georgette and crushed silk to give it a peek-a-boo feel, playing with solids and sheer. Our denim corsets can be teamed with saris, while the palazzos can be teamed up with a crushed silk kurta; denim skirts with net layering make a perfect accompaniment to sheer, lace tops. Also, we did not ignore men; we designed waistcoats with raw edges, as we used mul-mul type soft cotton denim, which is hugely malleable,” concludes Mishra.
