Amrish Kumar and LABEL,the pret brand, from the House of Ritu Kumar, presented their Spring Summer 2009 looks at the Ritu Kumar Flagship Store in Mumbai at High Street Phoenix. The Spring Summer 2009 collection by Amrish Kumar, Ritu’s son, was a riot of color, traditional prints on contemporary modern silhouettes, and vibrant energy. The music also by Amrish Kumar’s music label “Mummy Daddy Records” set the tone for the early evening preview.
Models Parvati Omnakuttam (Miss World Runner up), Nina Manuel, Zoha Tapia and Rachel showcased the collection within the store and the winding staircase.
According to Amrish Kumar “LABEL uses elements of Indian sophistication to present a modern and contemporary collection that is a symbol of the new Indian youth and identity”.
This season the emphasis has been on the innovation of fabrics that mirror the texture and appeal of the finest weaving schools in the country. Taking from the brands’ decades of research and experience in the weaves and prints of India and stripping away the emphasis on embroidery, the coup de tat of the show is the originality of the fabric textures and their use.
LABEL spring summer 2009, is presenting a look reminiscent of European fashion from the 60’s and 70’s. The dresses hark back to the flower power feel with full length maxi’s, shifts and spaghetti’s. The tops are all voluminous and free flowing, using the body’s motion to deliver the shape. The bottoms are funky with pallazzo’s, gharara’s and wide bottom denims hewn from loud prints and textured wovens.
DETAILS
TRIBAL:
Combining colors and embroideries from the “Maasai” tribes of East Africa with the traditional Bengali Sari weaves – the mainstay of the collection is this tribal yet classic group. The group uses beads, sequences & shells to enhance thigh grazing summer garments like tunics, skirts and long dresses with mostly ‘A’ line shapes. The color scheme is earthy -“Teal Blue” & “Brick Red”- and minimal work is added to highlight the prints. Bolder work is done on borders & yoke with purple & rust as accent colors.
SOLIDS:
The solid lines use checks and stripes woven in Maheshwar – and a stretch silk cotton in fitted clean shapes. These fabrics originated from sarees and the collection enhances the matt quality of the fabrics with copper (tamba) gota.
The second part of the line is a line of jersey jacquard. Traditional border and buti motifs are woven into a knit with exquisite drape and feel. The look is new as the development is one of the first such attempts made in the country. The sillouettes are long and glamorous with only minimal embroidery.
PRINTS:
Finally there is the print group which uses traditional Indian prints and proportions but throws them into a loud, bright myriad of colors. The mood for the group is young & energetic in relaxed and refined shapes. Turquoise/pink move toward subtle colors like red /indigo blue & black/olive grey, the combination of floral & geometric prints creates a very modern yet Indian feel. The look is made equally for dramatic evening wear (darker colors) as well as casual day wear (pinks & turquoises).
