For his summer resortwear Wendell re-invented this collection, as whites gave way to colour, cotton and linen to silk and Khadi and so was the ramp, totally swept away along with the seating. The air was fragrant with roses, jasmines and marigolds that lined the ramp. Twenty models were draped in hand woven bright silks that celebrated twenty iconic Indian garment adaptations. Transforming the vast main show space into a Museum setting was a designer coup by Wendell Rodricks. White drapes trailed overhead from ceiling to floor while the soaring voices of the Shillong Chamber Choir seduced fashionistas with their fusion musical repertoire of Hindustani and Western classic hits.
Finally the clothes…Referencing antique Indian clothing icons, the designer spun every design rule on it’s creative head. Ghagras became capes, pajamas into off shoulder blouses, dhotis morphed into saris, cholis hit the floor, capes skimmed over kurtas, saris hand woven in bright colours such as fuschia, ivory, pomegranate, indigo, jamun purple, peacock blues and greens, turquoise, haldi yellow, saffron gold. Using khadi cotton, silk tussar, mugha, noile, dupione and organza, the effect was Indian yet international, minimal yet extravagant, resort yet urban.
What has been most satisfying is to use hand woven silks to optimum effect. My name may be on the collection and label but truly it is to the art of the cotton growers and silk cultivators, the dyers who use inventive alchemy and weavers who carry forward a grand legacy that are the real stars of my Indica Emporia collection, says the designer.
