Desi designers wow global fashionistas

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Big daddies of Indian fashion Rohit Bal, Manish Arora and Tarun Tahiliani have been favourites with Hollywood divas for some time now. But now some upcoming contemporary desi designers are turning haute favourites of global fashionistas.

Along with her staple Prada, Ralph Lauren and Fendi, when actress Rachel Weisz wore Amit GT’s sexy canary yellow dress for the Harper Bazaar’s cover story, the entire fash fraternity was impressed. Then, supermodel Gisele Bundchen sizzled in an Anupama Dayal number for a sexy Vogue photo shoot. And for the pre-Oscars party, Dawn Olivieri sported a classy Falguni and Shane Peacock outfit.
While the international celebrities’ fascination with ethnic Indian fashion — delicate embroideries, unique motifs, a variety in fabrics — is known, these chosen designers don’t totally swear by tradition.
Anupama’s piece that Gisele wore is edgy and unconventional. “It’s not absolutely Indian,” she says. Anupama says that the chiffon, caftan dress has light embroidery on the edges and feels honoured at being chosen from the best of the best. She says, “Gisele looks absolutely stunning in the piece. There are multiple ways of wearing that caftan dress and she has carried it off in an exceptional and international way.”
She adds that the piece wasn’t created keeping Gisele in mind. “But I will now remember her while doing every piece,” she says.
Designer Amit GT takes pride in the global appeal of his work. “My design inspirations are global. I may have subconscious Indian influences, but I travel across the globe, looking around for inspirations and fabrics,” says Amit. Besides Rachel, Hollywood celebrities like Ashley Benson and Meagan Good have worn his outfits in this season’s awards circuit.
“For the magazine shoot, international editors took a call on the dress. It is a great feeling to join that league,” he says.
So, has the Indian fashion industry truly made it to the global fashion map? Well, designer duo Shivan and Narresh, who have dressed many red carpet divas and designed for Dita Von Teese on her India visit, don’t think so. “It’s still too early to say that Indians have arrived when we talk about our contribution to the world of fashion. We continue to appear to them as an enigmatic society because we are complex and layered hence very interesting and worth explorations.”