Couturier Suket Dhir is in Chennai for a day, to present his latest collections, Orchard and Fresco

Suket Dhir’s latest pop-up in the city brings two new collections that focus on his nostalgia of a verdant orchard from his childhood
Ensembles from Orchard
Ensembles from Orchard

Now a city favourite, Delhi-based designer Suket Dhir is in Chennai for a quick one-day pop-up this weekend focusing on his two latest collections — Orchard and Fresco. Exhibiting from tomorrow, we spoke to the designer last when he launched his permanent rack space at Collage. A favourite with celebs like Mira Nair, Karan Johar and Jim Sarbh, we catch up with the National Institute of Fashion Technology (New Delhi) graduate ahead of his visit to the city to talk shop and discover the nuances of his latest collection.

“The new collection is all about summery spring florals and we’ve played around with quirky squirrel and sparrow motifs that are present on each garment but not so conspicuously. As always, this collection too takes inspiration from my childhood in Banga, Punjab. I grew up having had the pleasure of playing in my grandfather’s orchards and I cherish those memories, that’s why the main collection is called Orchard and toys with the concepts of soundarya (beauty) — an aesthetic that is very ethnically Indian, begins the couturier who launched his sustainable eponymous label in 2011.

Silhouette from the collection
Silhouette from the collection

“The concept of soundarya defines so many aspects of Indian art. From our architecture, to our textiles and even to our visual and performing arts — beauty, as a concept, in the Indian sense is a complex but very specific idea. There’s an aesthetic balance we have come to be known for. A perfect balance between negative and positive space! So, yes, Orchard has flowers and pomegranates and yes, that’s what everyone does for spring-summer collections — but, I’ve also got precocious squirrels sporting a hat and fishing for nuts and gathering berries in their basket sporting converse shows and sparrows reading the paper, while another sparrow wears a protective helmet, aviator glasses and a fancy muffler. In some way, this is also my attempt to draw attention to the dwindling number of sparrows in the country — something that is very alarming, as they say the presence of sparrows stand proof of a vibrant and healthy ecosystem,” explains the designer.

Ensemble from Orchard
Ensemble from Orchard

While Orchard focuses on spring colours like old rose, sage and an ivory white and pastels like ice blue, light mint and champagne pink, there’s a whole separate collection based on a lotus pond fresco called Fresco, which will also be available at the pop-up. Look out for to shirt dresses, sun dresses (longer than a shirt dress), athleisure kurtas (a classic kurta with athleisure detailing), bomber jackets and brocade suits.

“The fabrics in the collection this time are silk brocade, silk jacquard and damask; and combinations of printed mulberry and muga silks for the athleisure kurtas — constructed like denim in twill/satin weave, with mulberry on the inside and muga on the outside,” concludes the designer who is now working on new collections focusing on his quirky take on banarasi silks and themes from the ancient dance manual natyashastra and navarasa or the nine human emotions. 

INR 22,000 onwards. June 4. At Collage.

romal@newindianexpress.com
@elromal

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