GREY MATTERS

India, London, 2014

Adornments for performance

India’s most beloved fashion silhouette is admittedly the sensuous drapes of a sari. It comes with the baggage of history by simply being the garment worn across the timeline of India’s past. Should the sari be more relaxed from constriction? After all, ease of flowy movement is one of the sari’s strong suits. Because that's what fashion is. Fashion is a creative eclipse that overshadows things we take for granted and makes us appreciate things in a new light

Let’s dismantle the sari and re-assemble it after an ingenious series of seven steps

The Process:
Tear it down with your fingers or a scissor
Toss it in a maximum power gender blender
Tell the English dandy to re-create his dapper
Text the Bombay local to lend his unique pepper
Take time to ensure none of the pieces are similar
Trip it up with crowns for that special flavour
Time is up; presenting Grey Matters

A play with the decidedly orthodox norms associated with the sari and the katori or bowl choli (top/blouse worn underneath the sari) by transforming them into shirts, while the pre-draped sari-skirts are worn not with the conventional blouses or corsets but with men’s shirts, bow-ties, collars and tee shirts
An endeavour to open up the sari, or un-wrap it up
No Gender norms
Rather, more sartorial experimentation

Crowns adorning heads are created with cut-outs from repurposing vintage brocade saris enveloped with perspex, in a move to hold traditions close, but with a modern outlook over it

A presentation reflecting the alternate spectrums of Fantasy-Reality