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Colourful and chic
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Priya Awasthy is having fun designing
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"THE LAKME India Fashion Week meant good business and new contacts. It was great fun," says designer Priya Awasthy. Fresh from the country's numero uno fashion fiesta, Priya Awasthy looked pretty as a flower akin to her floral creations with no trace of tiredness. Despite the hectic schedule (she has a few more shows lined up - at Jakarta and Bridal Asia) and the gruelling work, Priya managed to make it to Hyderabad for a day.
"I have tied up with some stores in London, Hongkong, Dubai and United States," says Priya, who showcased about seven collections. She did not have models walking down the ramp but had a stall of her couture, which ranged from saris, lehngas, Indo-Westerns to kimono tops and short skirts.
Priya is all for the LIFW - "with all its good and bad points there is a need for a fashion week as it gets designers and buyers under one roof. The growth over the last few years is visible and it is now known in international circles. The whole thing is a process - there need not be a boom but things can happen at a slow pace."
Priya managed to strike a balance between the opulent (for the Indian market) and the minimalist look (for the international market). She strongly feels that the government should do something for fashion. "It's quite a financial drain for designers to participate in the LIFW."
India is very much on the fashion map according to Priya. "Indian fashion is happening. I had a show in Agra where a large number of Europeans, Australians and Americans were present. All of them wanted a bit of India in their wardrobe. They picked up my stylised ghagras and teamed it with a corset and stole. This fusion look is good even for a ball. The kurtis and kurta shirts are all over the West."
Priya's forte (and her USP) is colour. "Anything colourful fascinates me." Her creative impulses could be triggered by just about anything - "it could be a flower, painting, any place I visited... " Embellishments too are key to her creations. She uses anything from beads, crystals, swarovski, sequins to various types of embroidery. Priya's couture is wearable. "It is trendy but not bizarre and complements the female form." The fusion look is certainly in. "One can team up a skirt with a western top, a jeans with a choli and kurtis with anything," says Priya, who also asserts, "that Indian designers should not lose their identity. Our clothes are classy, stylised yet conventional. We should not ape the West. After all India has a rich cultural heritage."
In times where allegations are made on copy of designs it's certainly difficult times for designers to maintain originality. "If one has creativity within them it's not difficult to be original, " says Priya, who always wanted to be a designer since her young age.
When some of her ilk is into designing clothes for film stars, Priya is not really into it. "Raveena Tandon, Amisha Patel, Rathi Agnihotri, Neena Gupta and some television personalities pick up my clothes. I have designed their look(s) in some films. But I have always dealt with the actors and not with producers." Is she open to designing for films? "Maybe if something really fabulous comes my way.
Her advice to the fashion conscious: "Buy and wear what you feel comfortable and not follow the trend. The colours one chooses must complement the body and complexion.
"Style", for Priya "means mood and attitude. How you carry something is important. One can create one's own style and carry elegance."
Priya aspires to make Indian fashion more popular and affordable. And she is having fun unlimited on the fashion track.
RADHIKA RAJAMANI
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