Three Decades New

Thirty years after Suneet Varma made fashion fashionable, we look at the evolution of his style idiom

There are stories and then there are storytellers. Designer Suneet Varma is a firm believer that when it comes to fashion, styling and accessories tell the best tales. Varma says, “How would you tell lineage, which decade something is from or more about someone’s personality? In my opinion these details would come through in styling, hair, makeup and the use of accessories, especially in the world of fashion.” When the designer started out in 1987, designers in India had a limited canvas to paint on. With each passing decade, as the world opened up as a playground, designers like Varma managed to keep one foot firmly in their homeland while allowing the influences of the West to impact on their collections. As his designs evolved, so did the women he was portraying. We take a look at the Suneet Varma woman down the ages.