I can barely break a sweat as I solve the bizarre word search in fashion designer Alia Giri’s latest collection September lookbook. But in the end, it turned out to be the easiest way to decipher her high-class pretrine.
Words such as ‘eggplant’, ‘CMYK’, ‘funny numbers’ and ‘storytelling’ from this puzzle are represented on shirts, waistcoats, skirts and kurtas. These are a clear indication of what we can expect from the Chennai-based designer this season. Inspired by Vogue magazine’s iconic September issue, which predicts fashion trends for fall and summer, the line is full of pops of color (think chili red) while also featuring interesting cuts. It is layered with sophisticated fabrics.
“I was very inspired by Dr. Seuss and[Spanish fashion brand]Loewe,” she says, pointing to some of the collection displayed in the Nungambakkam collage. She added that her brief stint in journalism during her college years helped inform two elements of the collection. It is the concept of the issue that predicts the fashion calendar. The other is the CMYK (cyan, magenta, yellow, key) color model that you often see in newspapers and magazines.
Alia grew up in different places around the world, including the United States and Singapore. However, she found herself in India during each long vacation. His trips to the subcontinent required him to be accompanied by his mother, a member of the Zamorin family of Travancore, who were involved in the revival of handloom weaving. “I spent a lot of time in the villages around Kanchipuram, interacting with weaver families who sit at their hole looms and work together for hours and days to create a single garment, a sari,” she says. I say.
This love for fabrics remained even though Alia dabbled in other activities such as writing and dancing. “I have always loved fashion, but I have also tried some other interests. It was during the pandemic that I enrolled at LaSalle College of the Arts and began to understand the technical side of fashion. That included learning how to use tools, understanding seam lines, and drawing patterns. My final year project came in the form of an eponymous brand,” she says. Masu.
Aria says every line comes from a specific poem she wrote. She says her imagination comes alive with colors and silhouettes when the words flood into her phone’s Notes app. But it’s not all serious, heart-wrenching, and introspective. ‘Whimsy’ is the core of her collection. You can find shirts with “funny people” doing weird things like lifting weights or carrying a sledgehammer. They act as narrators and end up constructing the garments, she says.
“I was a goofy kid who was into Bollywood music and had the classic mushroom cut. After school, I’d sit in front of the TV and pretend I was on the board, twisting noodles and eating them. I was allergic to reading, so I read books upside down. Whimsicality was always a part of my life,” she says.
Alia said that the pret-a-scene in India has been booming recently and she is excited to be a part of the movement. She takes inspiration from designers like Dhruv Kapoor who create interesting designer wear at affordable prices. She also wants to create her own label that way. She added that she doesn’t stick to the traditional four-a-year collection goal and likes to drop her own designs from time to time to keep things fresh and light. After all, that’s what Dr. Seuss would have wanted.
issued – January 3, 2025 4:41pm IST
