Designer Anavila Misra, who is closing the Sustainable Fashion Day and Indian Textile at Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2017 tonight with her collection Blur, talks about the magic of the colour black and need for sustainable fashion.
Subtlety is her second name. Embracing linen to create minimalistic yet mesmerising designs, fashion designer Anavila Misra creates sarees and oufits for the regular contemporary women and also Bollywood divas. From Kangana Ranaut to Konkona Sen Sharma, Sonam Kapoor and others have been seen sporting her creations.
Advocating linen for its comfort (most suitable for the Indian climate), drapes, texture, fall, natural beauty and elegance, Anavila is known for creating designs in mostly earthy tones. Now, focussing on black she is making a bold move and for the very first time will be showcasing her collection titled ‘Blur’ at Lakme Fashion Week Winter/ Festive 2017. She will be closing Sustainable Fashion Day with her unique creations that explore black in a new light.
There is an unmatched intrigue surrounding black, a colour that invokes fierce emotions of strength, power and often symbolises the unknown and mysterious. In the design and fashion realm, black represents a unique form and probably is the only colour or the lack of it, that connects to the universe like no other. It continues to exude a sense of crisp formality.
Blur collection re-looks at black in a whole new dimension with fluid softness, intense beauty, deep love and delicacy. Anavila’s refreshed approach romanticises black to ‘blur’ its stark intensity. Here, she tells us more about her collection and sustainable fashion:
What intrigued you to choose black this time for LFW?
This year’s collection is focused on form and design. Black, as a colour, lends itself beautifully to both. I wanted to show the soft and romantic side of black through beautiful surface treatments.
Can you describe the idea behind your collection’s name Blur? What is the inspiration behind your collection?
Our Winter’17 collection is called Blur. It’s an expression that’s rooted in the fundamentals of design where form is leading the thought. It has been inspired by my pursuit for ‘strong minimalism’ where the strength lies in the understatement. The collection not only blurs the austerity of a predominantly black and deep colour palette but also the boundaries of fashion, making it cross-continental.
How would you define your collection — the cuts, fabrics, silhouettes, flow, patterns, prints, embroideries and so on?
We mostly work with linen. As this is the Winter/Festive collection, we have introduced yarns like silk, wool and khadi in our textiles. We have as always worked on the loom to create beautiful textures which have been further enhanced by the usage of handblock prints, khatwa and hand embroideries with unique placements.
In most of your collections, you have been using bell/ Victorian sleeves extensively. Tell us more about this fascination.
Comfort is essential to me. The silhouettes and styles are loose and fluid for making movement easy. At the same time they’re flattering and feminine.
You will be showcasing your collection on the Sustainable Fashion Day at the festival. What does sustainable fashion mean to you?
We work with handwoven fabrics and handcrafted techniques. Our efforts are always towards strengthening our clusters and their skill sets. I feel we have been able to do this beautifully with Blur. A sari handwoven in West Bengal has been hand block printed in Gujarat and then embellished with khatwa by the women artisans of Jharkhand. It’s easy to source local talent but what is more important is to sustain employment which we have generated over years.
Why has sustainable fashion become all the more important now?
I feel it’s a way of life for me, therefore also a way of work too. We’ve always worked with these values and can’t think otherwise. Today’s youth is very aware of the consequences of industry on environment. They make conscious choices today for a better tomorrow. If it is important that fashion continues to remain a part of the future, then it’s important that fashion is future conscious.
How do you think the fashion industry can empower the handloom, traditional fabrics and weavers?
Indian designers are going back to their roots to source textile and crafts for their designs. The final product which is created with traditional elements in new designs is stylish, unique and ideal for the global woman’s wardrobe.
