INTENSELY CONJURED

The latest season of India Couture Week 2023 has us musing about the many shapes and shades of couture

- NIDA NAEEM

“India has had a century-old love affair with couture, which is made-to-measure for pure pleasure," said designer Suneet Varma before his presentation at the most recent edition of India Couture Week 2023. Indeed, a sense of pleasure and hedonism underscored all the collections. Powered by the Fashion Design Council of India, this showcase of bridal and occasion wear was a full-throated expression of beauty for the sake of it. India's bridal wear segment, after all, rakes in the big bucks and is probably the one space outside of red carpet events where bespoke creations find a consistent home.

ICW 2023 proved to be a playground for the multiplicities of couture in the subcontinent. Shifting taste preferences mean that the demands of the wedding entourage cannot be predicted as easily. The popularity of the bustier and slitskirt combination for the showstopper ensembles pointed towards a growing comfort with sensuality. Haute hoods found their way to the Rajesh Pratap Singh and Rohit Gandhi Rahul Khanna runways. Kunal Rawal subverted expectations by taking an understated and androgynous approach that focused on creating IYKYK layers of textures with his signature 'Dhup Chao' thread-dipped technique.

From glam lehengas to otherworldly cocktail gowns, designers showed us what it means to contemporise the best of heritage crafts for the discerning consumer of today.

PURVEYORS OF THE PAST

No one epitosmises this India Modern spirit better than Ritu Kumar. "The OG' returned to India Couture Week after a decade-long hiatus with a collection that celebrates her lasting legacy: "The country owes much of its design ethos to the revival work done by the first 'barefoot doctor' of Indian fashion." Kumar put forth a new feminine aesthetic through historical textiles such as Chintz, overlaid with the complexity of glittering kasab and floral kashidakari.