Taking us to an era of elegance is designer Anavila Misra, with her pure, rustic and organic collection of saris, inspired by the magnificence of Mohenjo Daro. The designer’s signature style shines through with Konkona Sen Sharma as her muse wearing a natural indigo dyed sari with patches of hand block printed indigo patterns and blouse with thread work with armlets made of bell metal hand moulded by the bell metal artisans from village Aura in Gujarat.
Anavila’s Autumn – Winter 2014 collection for LFW W/F 2014, has taken cues from various objects found in excavation, the regional economic conditions, cultural influences, architecture, craft practices and art remains, resulting in an inspiring visual story.
With the emphasis on hand-woven textiles, the fabrics used are linen, cotton and silk. The extensive use of natural dyes on these fabrics are in indigo, madder, sap green, rust, gold, bronze, cement, ecru and an array of beiges.
Techniques like extra weft weaving, block printing and ikat bring alive the Indus motifs. Over-dying and printing has also been used to create an aged, rustic look. Ajrak printing, featured in the archeological survey of Mohenjo Daro, makes for an essential element of Anavila’s collection.
