Alchemy, a five-day event to be hosted by the British Council, starts on April 19 at the Southbank Centre and Royal Festival Hall in London. The event will explore every aspect of Indian culture through a range of events encompassing dance, art, film and fashion show. The show, which celebrates the relationship between India and Britain, will have four talented designers — Gaurav Gupta, Nachiket Barve, Aneeth Arora and Rahul Mishra — participating this year.
Nachiket, who won the British Council Young Fashion Entrepreneur Award in 2010 and had represented India in London, wants to change the stereotypical image of India and Indian fashion through his work. He says, “I plan to show my forthcoming A/W12 collection there. The collection has a range of Indian techniques and textiles. I have used Mashru from Kutch, Shibori and leheriya, appliqué, lots of hand embroidery, sequins and colours along with cutwork. Yet, the look is global and the silhouettes are perfectly adaptable to a global fashion audience.”
Aneeth Arora of Pero, who won the same award in 2011 shares, “I would be showcasing my fall line. I always work with traditional textiles, which I develop myself in different parts of India and that has always been the highlight of my work. I never let myself expect too much, I just believe in giving everything my best shot and wait for surprises. I think it’s a very good opportunity, and I am excited about representing my country in the UK.”
Rahul Mishra says that the world associates India with colour, cholis and a lot of tie and dye work; kitsch is a very small part of what we actually do here. “Through my collection I want to highlight the classy facet of our design sensibilities. Indians have a very elegant and refined palate. We are much more than loud colours. I am going to show a lot of sophistication through my collection,” says Rahul.