Remain a classic

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Remain a classic

Friday, 23 August 2019 | Pioneer

Remain a classic

The Lakme Fashion Week has seen designers use forgotten techniques while extending their frontiers further

Did you know dabu or daboo is an ancient mud resist hand block printing technique from Rajasthan? The practice almost died in the last century but was revived and is a flourishing business today. Day two of the Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2019, saw designer Alka Sharma with her sustainable label of Udaipur, Aavaran. She presented her collection Miniature Moon, which has been done by the same old-age dabu technique. It has been embraced for printing intricate motifs on the finest natural fabrics like mushru, mulberry silk and chanderi. Delicate and ethnic embroidery like pittan have been used for embellishing the clothes. Regalia inspired silhouettes have been blended with modern designs to create this timeless and aesthetic collection.

The contemporary clothing label specialises in dabu mud resist, hand dyed and block printed apparel. The fabrics were eco-friendly, organic and natural, which were in perfect sync with the brand’s ethics of sustainability.

The process of dabu printing is quite complicated, involving many workers and multiple stages of printing, washing and dyeing. First, the plain fabric received from the mills is carefully washed to remove any impurities which may interfere with the dyeing process. Then, designs are meticulously and painstakingly hand printed on to the fabric using blocks which are dipped into fast dyes. The next and crucial step involves the use of the mud resist which makes this print so unique. Ingredients like mud, gum, lime and waste wheat chaff are combined to make the ‘dhabu’ or mud resist paste which is then patted over certain parts of the design.  The paste is dried with sprinkled sawdust. This covering essentially protects these parts of the fabric from the dye used later on, creating a unique and colorful effect.

After this process of printing, the fabric is spread out in the sun where it completely dries out. It is then dipped into a vat of dye, dried again and finally given a thorough washing to remove the paste and any excess dye. The dyes used are typically natural vegetable dyes and pastes. Thus the unprotected parts of the fabric catch the colour while the dhabu covered bits remain plain. The fabric may be dyed more than once in different colors to give each part of the design a different hue.

Speaking about her debut at the fashion week, Alka said, “The label was launched to sustain and revive the ancient, traditional craft of dabu print and provide economic empowerment to the indigenous craftsmen of the region. The designs are very similar to the motifs used in all traditional Rajasthani textiles, since the ‘blocks’ used for printing are common to most of these techniques. They tend to be nature inspired designs of plants, birds, flowers, fruits as well as artistic ethnic motifs.”

Actresses Mrunal Thakur walked the ramp for Aavaran. She said, “I am excited to be walking the ramp for Aavaran. This is truly thrilling as it will be a debut for us both at the week.”

Designer Amit Aggarwal on Wednesday launched his luxury pret collection, Flux, with cricketer Hardik Pandya and actress Lisa Haydon walking on the ramp as showstoppers. Aggarwal, who is known for engineering recycled products in the garments he designs, has this time tied up with R-Elan — Reliance Industries’ textile arm — to create the grandeur pieces in fluid, free flowing fabrics.

The designer used recycled polymer strips to add structure to the gowns, dresses and skirts that comprised the collection. Sheer wraps, exaggerated sleeves, power shoulders and billowing skirts were the highlight of the show. There was the use of techniques like as plisse, fine draping and three-dimensional embroidery that added texture of the pieces.

Use of electric colours, shiny metallic shades of silver, blue, purple and green, hues of emerald, petrol, neutrals like gold, blush and ivory made the collection pop up.

Speaking about his collection, Aggarwal said, “The entire collection is about free flow. The fabric had a such a large plethora of different colourations... It never really stopped inspiring me. Going ahead and creating 100 more looks.”

Haydon, who wore a purple drape gown said, “I really admire what Amit does. And especially this collection. It’s a great play of contrasts, structures. Each time a model walked the ramp wearing one of his pieces, I felt like ‘Oh my gosh, I want to wear that. And that’s always a great sign, it means this is an excellent collection.”

—With inputs from agencies

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