The name of the Rose

Roses were sprinkled everywhere in Varun Bahl’s collection, which introduced the sari-pant, two classics fused to create a hybrid avatar.
Crisp, flowing and asymmetrical – three ingredients for a winning show. Varun Bahl courted glitter, albeit in his quiet way, by creating a special fabric, woven crepe, with in-built properties of glamour, on Day 3 of the Shree Raj Mahal Jewellers India Couture Week in association with Logix group, presented by FDCI.It was great to see Arth filmmaker Mahesh Bhatt making a discreet entrance, as Varun’s play with sheer took centrestage. What was interesting was the evolution of the 60s blouse, reminding you of the voluptuous Mumtaz, with a bow tie back revealing the most sensuous part of a woman’s body, her back, as black seemed de rigueur along with tone-on-tone embroidery.
“I didn’t want to use the predictable metallic lurex for shine, as it is too in-your-face, so I developed a subtler fabric with the same properties,” says Varun, who has kept his price bracket between `40,000 and `10 lakhs. There were high-low hems and a mostly monochromatic palette, with flashes of sea green as the colour gradation progressed to sunny yellows and watermelons. The garment construction was ingenious, and the cropped jackets combined with a layered look were a natty touch. Varun didn’t leave anything to chance, as he superbly finished his powder pink saris with fuchsia velvet embroidered borders. “Fashion is not restricted by geographical boundaries anymore. It is going global and if I have to do something to make an impact, this is the way to go.
That’s why you see the emergence of the sari-pant – it was the marriage of two classics – the sari and cigarette pants,” he adds. You couldn’t miss the extensive use of mokaish, which, Varun explains, is a dying craft sadly disappearing from a zari-laden bride’s wardrobe. The sheer churidars without the chudis, worn with longer tunics with seams at the waist, with volume preceding this, complete with box pleats, were his way of showing that minimal can be cool. And he just can’t get enough of the delicate damask, a fabric that he enjoys working with, as it offers a reversible quality with the splendour of gold threads to up his long obsession with florals, as he travelled back to time to the Byzantine era.