Gul Panag at Ashish Sonis Show at HDIL Couture Week
Gul Panag, Madhu Sapre, Zaheer Khan, Moon Moon Sen, Suchitra Pillai, Nina Manuel, Queenie Dhody at Ashish Sonis Show at HDIL Couture Week on 17th September 2008
Ashish N Soni has carved out a distinctly original niche with a sharply refined and deceptively simple sense of aesthetic.
Immaculate tailoring and attention to detail.
With design as his primary forte, he internationally launched his label through Selfridge’s and keeps exhibiting through London Fashion Week and Tranoi in Paris which is stocked at prestigious stores like Beams in Japan, Penelope in Italy, Tsum in Russia, Villa Moda in Kuwait.
Ashish was the first Indian designer to be invited to present a runway show at the Olympus fashion week, New York. At his debut in September 2005, he was hailed as “one of New York’s new discoveries” by The International Herald Tribune’s, Suzy Menkes. The label has remained distinctly original; directional but is governed by personal philosophies and experiences, bearing reflections of the Indian surroundings.
His outstanding work is being looked upon as a source of inspiration for many.
CRAFTING COUTURE
Couture apart from its dictionary explanation is about giving designers a free reign to interpret form and function, favoring form over opulent excess and precisely re-configuring the flashy frills of traditional haute couture to rescue a minimalist stand rocked by the change of the maximal kind. It’s about seeking alternatives to the cold anonymity of mass production and standardized industrial processes. The challenge for this collection has been revitalizing the concept of couture by swapping bygone floor sweeping gowns for precisely sculpted silhouettes. It’s about subtly twisting proportions and inventing new stitching techniques, which at times can mean a thoroughly modern revision of a traditional technique. The handmade feel and bespoke tailoring processes being the focal point of design. This fall, some of the most radical fashion statements are an interplay of proportion, craft, bold cuts and trace sublime silhouettes. The highlight of the collection is a blend of draped and tailored pieces, very sculptural, atmospheric and evocative, uber intellectual and uber classy. Ashish N Soni’s instinctive style, as well as, the brands tailoring tradition creates a wonderful synergy of hand finished detailing and lavish fabrics. The labels obsession with quality construction has been blended with specially woven customized cashmeres, wool crapes, flannel angora, silk wool to create a fall collection that’s simultaneously tasteful and austere. The unlikely combination of period and contemporary elements is the essence of this collection. The brands appreciation for the beauty of plainness along with dedication to detail is skillfully captured in bold looks alongside the signature black.
The range contains beautifully blended fabrics which provide and ingenious mix of being innately luxurious and fashion with very fine cashmeres.
The label, almost back in its all menswear days plays with its tailoring prowess to create skinny, tailored looks that express an aloof, insider cool. Known for serious garments and an approach to fashion that’s free of hype and hoopla, exploits its aesthetic for “a certain kind of purity” and a commitment to what is modern in terms of fabric development, shapes and finishes. The men’s line comprises of primarily a new modern interpretation of the classical shenNani by incorporating avant-garde embroidery techniques·that modernize and reinvigorate this aesthetic that has been part of our clothing history for centuries.
The women’s looks are either in the form of a slim pantsuit or a slim skirt suit with a tremendous feel for modern living that’s seems keen to elaborate on the soft, feminine message.
In the ever fickle fashion industry, couture is the one entity that has never really budged from its founding principles.
However, to remain relevant, it must challenge the very boundaries that make it so highly esteemed.
