Fashion: Cities on your clothes

Travelling was perhaps never so much productive for most fashion designers as it has become of late.

We see a slew of designers who have recently gone for vacations to several places and have ended up constructing a whole line of fashion clothings dedicated to the city.

The latest example is Mumbai-based fashion designer Maheka Mirpuri who launched her line of women’s wear, Aa’enah. The collection is inspired by the city of Udaipur (Rajasthan) — which, says Maheka, represents a great combination of history, chivalry, opulence, culture and arts. “I had gone to Udaipur in February for the opening of a temple. And since I was there I already I thought of checking out and exploring the much-talked about city,” says Maheka, as she tries to capture in her collection the drama and romance, that epitomises the city of Udaipur, with voluminous ankle length kurtas in chiffons with pearls and Swarovski neckline; dreamy billowy kurtas with flowing fabric; asymmetric hemlines; chanderi net dupattas with gold trimmings; and knotted tulle dupattas.

“The city has royalty all around… the rich cultural feel is so palpable in the air. The whole heritage has so much to talk about… I was so spell bound by it,” says an ecstatic Maheka, who picked up the fine nuances of the city from the several places that she explored — be it temples, the chants encrypted on the walls, the restaurants, or the street culture.

Ace designer Manish Malhotra is enthralled by Kashmir after his recent trip to the valley. And indeed he uses the Kashmiri embroidery and designs in his latest collection.

“I didn’t get much chance to explore the city but I did manage to check out all the handicraft works and the fabric stores. They were beautiful. My collection at the last fashion week was inspired by Kashmir. The Kashmiri borders, embroidery work, and, particularly the shawls, are just gorgeous.”

Designer duo, sisters Ridhi and Sidhi Mapxencar launched their latest collection last month. Characterised by summery look and flowy fabrics, the collection is inspired by the city of Goa. Says Ridhi, “It’s the first time that we’ve created a whole line of clothes taking Goa as the theme. We have used pastel colours like greens, peaches, and so on. The clothes therefore reflect the casual and boho feel of Goa.”