India's leading fashion designer duo, Shyamal and Bhumika are on a mission to revive the age-old crafts of India. In their legacy of over three decades, the designer duo has consistently taken inspiration from India’s rich heritage and culture to produce bespoke couture collections that align with the traditional ethos and modern sensibilities. Emphasising on the idea of bringing India to the world, the designers have been able to reach out to a global audience with their couture as far as in the United States. Some of their crafted ensembles have previously been seen on prominent Indian actresses like Kareena Kapoor Khan, Juhi Chawla, Kajol, Kangana Ranaut, Sonam Kapoor, Kiara Advani, Mrunal Thakur and the list just goes on.
This wedding season, they have dropped their timeless Wedding Couture 2022 collection featuring the elegant Aditi Rao Hydari. The collection arrives ahead of the upcoming wedding season, giving us all the reasons to indulge in a shopping extravaganza. We caught up with the designer duo, Shyamal and Bhumika, to learn more about their design journey for this edit.
What is the inspiration for the Wedding Couture 2022 collection?
Encouraged by a festive mood, we have sought inspiration from nature, our history, traditions, ancient architecture, the splendour of the royal courts, museums, rare private collections and antique markets. The new line transports you to a world of fantasy and celebrations for the bride and groom. Our deep-rooted reverence for the rich culture and heritage of the Indian sub-continent has been a constant inspiration to design something grand and beautiful like this edit.
Tell us the design process and techniques used?
Festive Indian couture is incomplete without beautiful hand embroideries, hand weaving techniques and surface textures. In this collection, we have used exquisite surface ornamentation in lush colours with a touch of sparkle, floral embroidery, heritage architectural design details like jharokhas, beautiful jaalis, regal jewellery patterns, jade chandeliers and wood carving patterns from old havelis that are all reflected in the creations. Since we are passionate about nurturing craft, we have used techniques like aari, zardosi in threads of vintage rose and antique finish gold. The embellishments evolved as we experimented with mixing various techniques with one another and brought them onto one single outfit. This blend of various crafts and embroideries has remained the focus of our surface ornamentation. We have also used vintage gold dori marodi, layers of shimmer sequins, glass beads and handcrafted silk threads embellished with crystals in varied hues for an opulent look.
The colour palette is dominated by bright red. What significance does this colour have for an Indian wedding?
Every Indian bride has dreamt of herself in a red bridal lehenga on her big day with her charming prince. The colour is one of the most auspicious ones in our traditions as is a symbol of vitality, strength and fertility and thus the favoured choice for most Indian brides since historic times. Apart from that, we have also experimented with refreshing new shades like emerald green, vintage-rose, powder-blue, almond-beige, ivory, moss green, shell-pink, royal-blue, jade-green, raspberry and cherry in the collection.
In times when fusion wear and light breezy lehengas are in demand, how far does a traditional heavy work bridal ensemble work?
Despite minimalism’s growing popularity, Indian brides are often drawn toward maximalist ensembles that embody a royal look. To create outfits that transport us to a regal era without looking garish, the designs in the collection have been carefully made to maintain the fine balance between contemporary relevance and tradition. The collection has exceptional silhouettes, dramatic hemlines, unique sleeve styles, and traditional hand-embroidery to effectively bring a modern yet traditional look.
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What are the new-age expectations of people?
In the era of pandemic and personalisation, people’s expectations have gone sky high. The word couture in itself conveys something specially created for a person and so when our customers expect to customise several aspects of the outfit, we happily oblige. From long-distance shopping to hours of customisation conversation, we are going to great lengths to create that dream attire for the big day!
Price on request. Available online and in-store.
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