Lady Gaga, a muse for Indian designers?

Lady Gaga turns into the perfect muse for Indian designers
On Wednesday, Lady Gaga instantly put Indian designers in the international spotlight.
Fashion bloggers and online mags raved about her all-white, elegant yet typically Gaga-ish out-of-the-box look. The songstress picked a stretch twill pencil dress with moulded leather panels on the top and a moulded and structured leather fish-tail silhouette at the bottom.Designed by New Delhi-based duo Alpana and Neeraj, the dress, in keeping with its ‘underwater’ theme, had delicate clear crystal and diamond detailing on the shoulders.
And, the Born This Way singer gave it an outlandish twist with the Little Shilpa white Perspex headgear. The look was completed with gloves and tall platforms.
This is just one example of Indian designers being noticed in the international market. Other examples are Manish Arora, Falguni & Shane Peacock, Tarun Tahiliani, Sabyasachi Mukherjee to name a few. In the last couple of months, Alpana and Neeraj have enjoyed red carpet attention. Actress Kat Graham donned their futuristic gown, singer Shingai Shoniwa their surgical mask gown and Brandy their wooden dress. As for Shilpa Chavan (Little Shilpa), Lady Gaga has worn her eccentric hats four-five times and even Kat Graham was seen on an album cover in one of her pieces. “I didn’t even know that Lady Gaga wore my design at Hong Kong. I got a congratulatory mail from a website dedicated to Gaga,” says Shilpa. “She’s the ultimate muse for a milliner because she does justice to creativity,” she adds. Gaga tweaked the hat and wore it differently. While the white discs are meant to fall in front of the face, Gaga chose to wear one in the front and one at the back of her head.
“She adds her own personality to the design which is why I think of her when I think of ‘out-of-the-box’,” Shilpa says.
The whole fashion industry has grown by leaps and bounds. Borders are being crossed with more ease. “The whole vision of fashion today has changed. A designer’s ideas may be creative but they should stand on their own; they shouldn’t look shoddy,” Alpana Mittal, one half of Alpana and Neeraj, points out. She also echoes Shilpa’s thoughts and terms Lady Gaga as a dream. It was the singer’s stylist who contacted the duo about the dress.
“She’s a dream for designers who take on risks and don’t play it safe. She added her own touch to it with the shoes and the hat. Her look wasn’t eccentric; it was elegant yet fashion forward,” she says. True that.
A look at some of the Indian designers who boast of international celebrity clients
Falguni & Shane Peacock: Singer Ashanti wore their creation this year. They have previously worked with Britney Spears, Jennifer Lopez, Fergie to name a few.
Tarun Tahiliani: Designed a sari for Oprah Winfrey. Lady Gaga wore a sari-inspired gown designed by him during her India visit.
Sabyasachi Mukherjee: Renee Zellweger and Reese Witherspoon have worn his label.
Manish Arora: Lady Gaga, Nicki Minaj, Rihanna and Katy Perry wear his designs.
Farah Khan Ali: Beyonce wore a crown by this jewellery designer in 2011.
nupur.chaudhuri@timesgroup.com