JUHI BADIANI’S LABEL is just four months old and yet, it is already finding takers for its message of body positivity, for women across all ages. Her new prêt wear collection, Disconnected Harmony, comes in simple silhouettes with an added quirk factor and has plenty of variety on offer, such as crop tops in crepe and chambray, shift dresses in cotton, as well as screen-printed trousers in malai cotton and muslin.
“We decided to call it Disconnected Harmony, because, within this one collection, there are three parts that are all very different in terms of silhouettes; but each garment is in sync with the others, in terms of aesthetics, fabric and colour,” says Juhi, about her second collection.
“Every time we have a client who tells us that they like a piece, but it wouldn’t suit their body type, we try to make the same thing with very few changes. My latest collection has a variation of pants that can be worn by women of all sizes and age, just by changing the styling a little. The tops that go with the pants have functional fancy zips that one can use to tighten and loosen the fit as per requirement,” she adds.
A student of Pearl Academy, Mumbai, Juhi loves to play with fabrics and create quirky embellishments like pockets, patches or motifs, with couching thread work, chir or pipe beadwork. An ardent admirer of ‘king of kitsch’— Manish Arora — Juhi created her college graduating collection in grey silk and brocade, inspired by pop art and op art.
“Buying a kind of fabric from the market, and getting it stitched is not my idea of fashion. I always try to change the look of the fabric, whether it is through pleating, dyeing or printing or creating patterns out of the print,” says the 25-year-old.
We notice a range of floral appliqué dresses in pure white, antique white, grey and black, where screen printed white organza has been used with hand-embroidery, while each of the summer shift dresses has stripes falling in a different pattern. “I had been thinking of working with stripes for a very long time. When I found the right fabric, which doesn’t crease easily, I decided to go ahead with it,” informs Juhi.
The cotton trousers in black-and-white, we are told, are made by screen-printing a six-meter-long piece of fabric, which has been pleated to create a textured look, wherein each print pattern falls in line with the others, in every single pleat. There’s another variety of trousers in discharge print, in bright colours like green and yellow, with colour-coordinated crop tops to go with them.
Juhi is already gearing up for the Wedding Asia Raipur and Ludhiana exhibitions, where she will be unveiling her Indo-Western gowns specially created for Indian weddings, which come with a Sherwani cut silk jacket or a net organza cape top, to spruce up the desi look
Starting price: `3,500 for separates