Marie Antoinette and Haute Couture
With great artwork, great fashion comes. Varsha Wadhwa’s love for queen bee of France made her bring in the European style to India to give a good dose of drama to the outfits. SHIKHA JAIN speaks to the designer about her collection
One of the sartorial influences has always been Marie Antoinette-inspired fashion.
The dauphine of France is known for the way she looked, her pale skin, amazing hair and of course the dress, that could only be described as having escaped from a fairy tale. Marie Antoinette is the queen of Haute Couture. She was the diamond of the first water.
“Marie Antoinette is the epitome of beauty, luxury, and grandeur when it comes to style and fashion, and there have been many books, plays, operas, and films inspired by her,” says Varsha Wadhwa. Fascinated by all her travels around the world, the designer now presents her own demi-couture women's wear line, VW Luxury Womenswear by Varsha Wadhwa, which exudes her personality and love for all things vintage and timeless.
Today, long and pastel hair, wreaths, beauty marks, boho fashion, floral prints, glamorous heels, ornate furniture and lush baths still continue to be of the utmost importance in fashion; desired and displayed with the same pomp and extravagance as the French court of Marie Antoinette.
Antoinette is perceived in many ways. Had she been alive, what would she have in her closet? Imagine Mary Antoinette in 2018, rummaging passionately through her armoire to go to an evening soiree in Bombay, this is what you will find here – the modern interpretation of Marie Antoinette.
“This Antoinette’s Almirah S/R’18 collection is all about 18th century fashion, but with a modern twist with relevance to the present time,” Varsha Wadhwa further adds.
The summer season calls for soft colours and flowy silhouettes, and designer Varsha Wadhas hit the right notes, with her pastel colour palette and romantic designs.
A reminiscent of the Austrian and French origins, in the romantic tulles and sensual organza, with delicate silk crepes over ruches and ruffles edged with stiff boning to form suggestive curves all finishes with hand embroidery evoking the sense of Versailles with its gliding Rococo style overall characterised by panel colours, more revealing frocks, and lots off frills ruffles and bows.
The bouncy tea dresses and dazzling beaded and embroidered gowns eventual nymph-like romantic. The bows and wispy ostrich feathers edge the pearls and crystal embroidered crepes and silks with shimmering tired ruffle as does the pencil skirt re-envisioned with its alluring convoluted ruffles opening to a slit.
“There's something mysterious and untouchable about Antoinette, that's very elegant. She's like a fantasy. But it needs to work too. To be relevant to today's time, she would need to fit many kinds of women. She's neither classical nor futuristic, she is a real woman,” the designer further says.
With every collection, the designer has chosen a different muse to get inspired from.
“The brand makes ready-to-wear as well as custom-made women's wear, targeted to the modern global woman of today. A woman who is a true romantic at heart but independent,” says the designer. Fashion to her is not just one-dimensional, and she strives to offer much more with each collection to bring the millennial of today.