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Fashion meets fiction
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City-based Chaitanya Rao’s latest line showcased at Lakme India Fashion Week, was inspired by Neil Gaiman’s “Neverwhere”
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ELEMENT OF FANTASY A model sporting one of his creations at LIFW
Chennai-based designer Chaitanya Rao is back from the Lakme India Fashion Week, and he can’t stop smiling. The only designer from the city to participate in the fashion extravaganza this time round, Chaitanya’s clothes were not just well-
received by the brimming rows of Mumbai’s glitterati, a top national daily even included him in the list of five young designers to watch out for.
Inspired by Neil Gaiman’s “Neverwhere”, a graphic novel that portrays London at two levels (London above and London below), Chaitanya’s Spring-Summer 2008 line showcased at the fashion week, was about “varied tones that co-exist in Gaiman’s fictional landscape.” Like Gaiman, the designer too worked on two distinct lines “the surface
and what lies beneath.” Explains the designer, who is also involved with creating costumes from top stars such as Vikram and Shriya, “While both the worlds are different in ‘Neverwhere’, they also merge thereby heightening the complementary nature of reality. The line between night and day, dark and light blurs. That’s what fascinated me.”
Chaitanya has interpreted Gaiman’s fantasy world with an understated look on the one hand and a Goth feel on the other. “It’s in keeping with the source of my inspiration. Gaiman’s London above is reflected in my chic, classy clothes with a subtle colour palette that’s dominated by skin tones, beiges and browns. Yellow being the colour of the coming season, I’ve used a dash of canary too to perk up the line. The second line that’s symbolic of ‘London below’ is dark with a liberal use of leather and black tones.”
As for the fabrics, the designer has splurged in silk, organza and linen. Surface ornamentation is restrained with just touches of beading and embroidery. “I’ve done plenty of jackets. Shoulders and high waist are going to be the focal points in the coming season. I’ve also done dresses and some suits with wide-leg trousers. To synchronise with the fantasy element of the collection, the silhouettes are about volume and layers. To me, the collection was a distinct departure from the kind of clothes I do for films,” adds the designer, who has done actor Shriya’s clothes for “Azhagiya TamilzhMagan” and is currently working on Vikram’s costumes for “Kandasamy.”
Talking about his experience at the national pageant, Chaitanya, who is participating in Lakme India Fashion Week, for the second time, says, “It’s a great experience because you get to share the same platform with so many top notch designers. It kindles the fire in you and recharges you for the creative challenges ahead.”
T. KRITHIKA REDDY
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