CAPED KURTA DRESS
Indian prints and silhouettes are colliding with elements of Western wear in cool cottons this summer. New silhouettes include the kurta onesie, the ethnic pant suit and the caped kurta dress. There are also Kalamkari wedge heel shoes, formal shirts in Ajrakh prints, palazzos covered in Batik. Ethnic prints in Indowestern silhouettes is a bit of a pendulum trend, says Shirin Salwan, senior stylist at Pernia’s Pop-up Shop, a multidesigner store in Mumbai. “Trending mainly in the summers and monsoons, then fading a bit and eventually making a comeback in different avatars the following summer.”
Because our summers are so hot and so long, we have always had interesting silhouettes emerge during this season, fashion designer Nachiket Barve adds. “People need constant change too, and that’s one reason we’re seeing these silhouettes, and seeing traditional prints bring their vibrancy to cotton, muslin and linen fabrics.”
Look closely and you’ll see elements of Central Asia too, in the Uzbeki and Kazakh Ikat patterns on some of this summer’s ethnic wear, in addition to Indian prints, says Anuradha Kumra, chief of product at Fabindia. “Fashion follows cycles and while Central
Asian prints and Indian prints are trending globally right now, Africa-inspired textile designs are slowly gaining popularity too. They could be part of the next fusion trend, in the next two-three years.”
Here’s a look at our top fusion trends of the season.
The sari / palazzo pants:
This is one design where everything seemed to go wrong. Was it a sari? Were they pants? Why was there a zip involved? Nonetheless, for a brief period last year, this fusion of East and West, zip-up sari and palazzo pants made a splash. Let’s hope it’s gone under for good. A midi in with attached shrug, this looks like a kurta at first glance but is more summerappropriate. For that extra desi semi-formal look, pair with a hand-block-printed cape. At right, a dress
by Ajio. The kurti-ghagra: This trend draws from the graceful kurta-ghaghra. But the kurta gets smaller and smaller, making the whole outfit look like it can’t decide whether it needs a sari on top or not. It’s been almost a decade and we say put a pallu over it. The silhouette’s not working.