Alamelu is back in Chennai, this time with their brand new fiesty edit: ARThistry

Alamelu, known as one of India’s youngest ready-to-wear labels, is just a year old and is visiting the city for the second time already.  The label returns to Chennai with its latest collection — ARThistry that is inspired by the intermingling of art and design and promises to further the easy-to-wear yet stylish vibe that the label is now known for.

Bengaluru-based Radharaman Hari Kothandaraman is the creative director of Alamelu and is nothing short of a textile celebrity in the South today. An engineering graduate from Cornell University, Radharaman — a self-taught designer from a family of master-weavers (who have been in the business of textiles for over 600 years, counting several royal families as their patrons over the centuries) — began his journey as a couturier in 2001 when he founded The House of Angadi in Bengaluru and then launched Alamelu a year ago.

Quite a popular brand with B-Town celebrities — we’ve seen Bhumi Pednekar, Neha Dhupia, Kajal Aggarwal, Rasika Dugal and Kirti Kulhari sport Alamelu creations in the recent past and the new edit promises to only add to the label’s already celebrated design aesthetic.

“As the name suggests, the collection is inspired by art in a sense and also by the need to integrate Indian elements into the brand and design language which is otherwise very contemporary and international. We felt that in the way global fashion is moving, there is going to be a bit of India in everything. But it’s just going to be a hint and not over-stated, as we expect with everything Indian,” shares KH Radharaman, who is elated about the response Alamelu has been receiving from Chennai.

“We’ve kind of kept the collection consistent with our previous collections. The focus has been on separates — easy-to-wear silhouettes that can be dressed up or dressed down. One new direction we’ve taken is the black metallic look with black metallic yarn interwoven with silk georgette and we’ve also experimented with very contemporary embroidery. The colour palette is mostly dual-toned warmer colours like fuchsias, wines and moss greens that compliment the embroidery and metallic elements we’ve added into this collection. We’ve never worked with black before and this collection will see that extra edginess that black can lend to a garment,” he adds.

The collection is available in the city only till the end of the month, but Alamelu might be back sooner than expected as Radharaman assures us that they’ve already begin working on their next edition. “The COVID-19 situation, permitting, we might just launch our next collection soon. We have already begun working on it,” he concludes.

INR 8,500 onwards. At Collage.

romal@newindianexpress.com
 @elromal