Delhi-based designer Sunita Shankar now has an exclusive space at Amethyst for her new collection

Previously, she has displayed at the Takashimaya Silk Museum in Japan, Smithsonian Museum  and Museum of the Far East in Sweden
Sunita Shankar at Amethyst
Sunita Shankar at Amethyst

It was just last year a the Lakme Fashion Week that Delhi-based designer Sunita Shankar collaborated with the iconic silk sari brand RmKV to present Recrafting Traditional Silks, a collection that garnered a lot of attention - mainly because Sushmita Sen was the showstopper, but also for the way the designer lend a contemporary twist to a traditional ensemble. The designer who’s had her collection on display at the Takashimaya Silk Museum in Japan, Smithsonian Museum  and Museum of the Far East in Sweden, will be in the city this weekend to present her new collection, Lines that Define.

Caption
Caption

Known for her flawless finish and minimal use of bandhini and kantha in relaxed silhouettes, the 50-year-old designer’s collection is a visual play of lines that have been brought together by simple machine stitches, kantha stitches and pin tucking.  “It’s clean and crisp, and that defines the look,” explains Sunita adding that her stroke of inspiration came when she happened to notice that whether it was incorporating a craft, a weave or a random machine stitch on textile, they all had a rhythm and were linear lines. “Paul Klee’s quote on a line is a dot that just went for a walk, just summed up the animated quality,” she shares.

Sunita Shankar
Sunita Shankar

A firm believer in less is more, and understated elegance Sunita’s collection sources fabrics like chanderi from Madhya Pradesh, woven silk and cotton stripes from Varanasi, bandhani craft from Kutch and kantha from West Bengal. “For this line, I have worked with  colours like ivory, ebony and Indian red. All the stitching is done in-house in Delhi, although the weaving and craftwork is done in the respective areas that the fabric is sourced from,” says 1990 NIFT graduate.

From concept, to selection of textile to the sampling process, and production - Sunita is a complete hands-on designer. The brand, she opines, requires a consistent appeal with wearability being an important factor. “When I design a collection for the ramp or for LFW, it has to have a strong visual appeal. It could be daring, experimental and over the top. The wearability here, is not necessarily a driving factor,” she explains when asked about the difference in creating a line for a show and the brand individually.

From Rs 4,500 onwards.
At Amethyst.

 

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