Walking On Sunshine

Tender and tactile, glossy and embellished, even sharply tailored – here’s the lowdown on the fashion season that increasingly spells big business for designers.

- Shweta Shiware

What is this?” was the customer feedback when Wendell Rodricks debuted his Resort collection in Mumbai in 1993. Two remarkable decades down, his relentless investigation into asymmetrical shapes and Indian geometric cuts continue to astound through cleverly unstructured sarongs, lavishly louche kaftans, daring and dreamlike sari gowns. At once affording him the title of leading Indian resort wear designer. “Back then, Maharaja-inspired dressing and Bollywood bling dominated the fashionscape. Selling cotton in a high-end boutique was unheard of,” he chuckles.

SO, WHAT’S THE FUSS ABOUT RESORT WEAR?

Traditionally, they were known as precollections acting as buffers between seasonal cycles of Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter produced for the affluent jetsetter club. Languid slip dresses, slouchy trousers, sensual kaftans and kimono tops, light-as-air wispy jackets leisurely aligned with annual resort or cruise getaways. The recent trend of trans-seasonal clothing merging into everyday dressing, has liberated the function of Resort wear, instantly catapulting its status from supporting to starring role. “For consumers, its appeal is obvious. It’s a clever move on part of  Lakmé Fashion Week to rename its annual March edition as Summer/ Resort. When it comes to export business, India is known for its Resort clothing,” explains Monisha Jaising.

In the business of fashion for almost two decades, this seamstress fell for the allure of Resort clothing by accident. In 1998-1999, Jaising exported samples of beach wraps, halter-tops, beaded gowns, kaftans and kurtis to a boutique in St Tropez, France. The European market gleefully caught on to Jaising’s versions of luxe lounge clothing, making the kurti, or as the designer prefers to call it “beach tunic”, an all-time bestseller.

BRING ON THE BOHEMIA