The wedding season in India has already started, and if you haven’t figured out what to wear to your friend’s/relative’s ceremonies yet, you must visit the Vogue Trunk Show being held at The Ritz Carlton, Pune. The event features latest collections by celebrated designer duos Shantanu and Nikhil, and Shyamal and Bhumika. We speak to them about their latest designs, trends at weddings this season, and how millennials are revolutionising wedding wear.
Shantanu & Nikhil
Brothers Shantanu and Nikhil Mehra believe that couture clientele in India has seen a rather extensive evolution due to the decisive purchasing behaviour of the millennials. “The luxury millennial customer does not want to be just the wearer of couture but they want experiences and emphatic story telling that are replicated through these ensembles,” says Shantanu, adding that their millennial consumers prefer minimalism with strong aspects of familiarity and less of extravagance. “They follow an unconventional path and look for nostalgia with contemporary virtues in the outfit that they choose for any occasion. The millennial consumer does not follow the set trends, however they stay rooted to the familiarity of couture with experimentation of silhouettes and shapes,” he says.
Their latest collection titled Rajkumari, that is on display at the event, focusses on drapes — exaggerated as well as dainty. “Gender-fluid drapes for both men and women are core aspects of our brand’s design sensibility. Our signature draping style is featured in kurtas, gowns, bandhgalas, cocktail gowns and lehengas,” says Nikhil, adding, “The collection uses a variety of rich silk jersey, raw silk, heavy and luxurious brocades and silk organza. Our embellishments comprise Swarovski, laser cut techniques, mukaish, metallic faux leather applique and more. Subtle details and salient motifs are used that reinvent the mukaish embroidery and provide a glimpse into the shadow effect or the ‘dhoop-chhaon’ embroidery as called by the locals. Engaging colourful emotions and representing dynamic settings, our signature techniques like tone-on-tone textures and metallic appliques have been used heavily to showcase exquisite craftsmanship.”
Talking about the contemporary vibrant hues used in their collection, he says, “It is a portrayal of the juxtaposition that today’s millennials are, where they are as playful and spontaneous as they are articulate and composed, as feminine and dainty as they are bold and confident.”
Though it is the big day of the bride, a wedding is important for family members and friends, who want to look glamorous. “Our ensembles have always been known to be synonymous with a cocktail event. Our design aesthetics, be it our voluminous gowns, neo-drape lehengas or our signature menswear drape kurta and sherwanis, have a contemporary take on the traditional silhouettes which is also what the cocktail occasion in the Indian wedding events essentially are, and can be customised from theme to theme,” says Shantanu.
The Vogue Trunk Show collection comes from a similar philosophy that the cocktail occasion calls for the embracing of tradition while giving it a modern spin.
Shyamal & Bhumika
According to the designer duo, the Indian millennial bride wants comfort while flaunting her look for a few hours. “Nowadays brides appreciate craft done by hand and want to create an identity interwoven to her roots. This year we saw a lot of brides going for unique colour mixes in the threads, fresh colours woven on raw/wild silks, unconventional contrasts and a romance inspired modern aesthetic with traditional colours. You will see foliage greens, navy blues, vintage olives, pale blues, deep magentas, intense reds and old rose in our collections,” says Shyamal.
The label has come out with two glamorous collections for the wedding season this year — Memoirs of a Maharani and The Renaissance Muse. “In terms of creating collections, there is nothing hard and fast. It’s all about getting inspiration and translating it into beautiful designs. Brought up in heritage city of Ahmedabad we both have keen eyes for art, history, architectural designs and music. Whenever we travel, we just soak up all the inspiration from different art forms,” says Shyamal Shodhan.
Memoirs of a Maharani focuses on a variety of rare embroideries such as marodi work, zardosi work, aari work, and beautiful floral vines embroidered in metal thread along the necklines and beautiful embroidered jaals. “We were inspired by history, keeping in mind the use of crafts complementing the aesthetic of today and bringing forth the amalgamation of the timeless and the new. Inspired by the sartorial splendour of the 17th century royal courts, we explored museums, rare private collections, and antique markets and researched royal costumes for silhouettes, detailing, and the surface ornamentation of the garments,” says Bhumika.
The Renaissance Muse was inspired by the couple’s visit to Florence, the birthplace of the cultural movement. “We decided to prepare the next bridal couture collection inspired by floral paintings, decorative pillars, ceiling frescos, patterns and panels, of the Renaissance (15-17th century). The collection is made with explicit sophistication incorporating flavours of Florentine details, Venetian drama and Tuscan vibes. One gets to see glimpses of the classical antiquity of carved and enamelled doors from the Renaissance in the intricate embellishments with elaborate bead and zardosi embroidery work,” she describes. Both the collections are made with rich fabrics like rich raw silk, velvet, translucent organza, hand woven matka silk, and cooler tussars for summer events.
Top trends this season for the bridal party, they say, include asymmetric or draped gowns and lehengas with delicate embroidery worn with stylised blouses, high-low hemmed skirts over layered on ruffled tulle to create a dramatic effect and paired with off-shouldered blouses, exaggerated sleeves, jacket styled blouses or embroidered corsets. “We always like the family to be coordinated with the bride and groom. Complimenting ensembles give a personal touch to the wedding and ensure that the family is not overpowering the bride and groom on their big day. Classic kalidaar lehengas, structured jackets, shararas, kalidaar sarees, asymmetric hems, signature cowl gowns and trailing kurtas are some of the silhouettes that the bridesmaids can go with. Peplum jackets over lehengas, off-shoulder blouses and such other fun silhouettes are also in trend,” Bhumika suggests.
