Wild imagination

Manpriya Singh

Whilst the flora has gone for the overkill, the fauna begins to invade the creative space. Crawling its way onto clutches or chirping atop a bridal outfit. Butterflies, we’ve long known, sparrows, parrots, peacocks, ants, beetles and bumble bees happily wallow in the attention. Accorded by those looking for alternatives to flowers, paisleys and motifs we’ve forever classified as Indian. “There is always an obvious choice of taking inspiration from all things beautiful—be it the breathtaking landscapes, pretty flowers or colourful butterflies. We found the bugs and crawly creatures more intriguing. They have the most beautiful colours and shapes,” shares the designer-duo Shreya Bhan and Anshul Tyagi from the accessory label Etre.

Having just come up with the autumn 2015 collection, Art-o-Dae, of clutch bags, they share, “For our collection, we have taken inspiration from the shapes of ants and beetles and bumble bees. Each piece is inspired from a different insect making it completely different from the other, yet forming a coalition.”

Think of the night crawlers, the creepy creatures, the majestic creations of nature brought to life with embroideries and an enchanting colour palette.

Bees and birds

Pictorial, embellished and aesthetic, covetable and contemporary. What’s more? “Even a small slice of wildlife instantly brings about quirky chic quality to an outfit,” shares Sonika Dhamija, from the label, Sod. “If used aesthetically, they blend in perfectly well with flowers too, thereby scoring on the traditional front and yet standing apart from the rest of the embroideries.”

She adds, “Animals and birds have always been design ornamentation in several traditional embroideries, for instance kashida embroidery used for phirens.”

Manish Malhotra let his birds do the chirping in one of his latest collection The Empress Story, comprising olive greens, icy pastels and large bird motifs.

Rohit Bal’s quite elaborate attempt Husn-e-Taa’iraat explored rich detailing, colourful flowers and equally colourful birds against the base of red, black and white. Perched atop the branches, dotting the flora, they looked as celebratory as aesthetic.

Animal instinct

Wildlife for inspiration has often been relegated to fixation with zebra and leopard print, largely explored in western silhouettes, although lately in lehengas and saree gowns. What remains largely elusive is animal inspired motifs, either embroidered or patched onto elaborate Indian outfits; a lehenga, blouse or even kameez. The absence of any tradition in the fashion world instantly makes things suitable enough to be classified as different. Shares Chandigarh-based designer, Babi Grewal, “Animals and birds for motifs is again an old look slowly coming back. I have come up with a line on velvet where I have explored them.”

The Parsi Gara is proof of century old fixation for coloured flowers and birds. She adds, “Traditionally we have seen peacocks, birds and parrots also in Chinese fashion. But these birds are considered auspicious in Indian context.” All the while, lending an interesting break from flowers and a strong base for classics.

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