It’s never easy breaking out of your comfort zone, but there comes a moment when a creative person decides to pushes away all boundaries and steps into unfamiliar territory. For Delhi designer Anupama Dayal, that realisation dawned at a Singapore museum, while viewing Mughal jewellery. “Looking at our own jewellery from the past, I was inspired to design Indian clothes,” she says. (We also think it’s partially to do with the great potential in the designer bridal wear market).
Naming her collection the Bronze Begum (sort of a celebration of the Indian skin tone), Anupama presented a collection of saris, lehengas and anarkalis for the Indian bride. She allowed herself a wide colour palette, using orange and red, azure blues, deep greens and shocking pinks. But the common thread of her collection was the predominance of gold. Gold was everywhere—from the zardosi and gota work, to the luxurious brocades, and of course, the jewellery. She combined the traditional crafts with metallic embellishments and pearl embroidery.
The fabrics were rich and luxurious—chiffons, georgettes, jacquards and nets. She often used unconventional colour combinations—blue with orange and pink, tangerine with gold, green with gold, warm yellow with red. In a couple of outfits, Anupama draped two contrasting dupattas for an eye-catching effect.
What stood out most from the collection was the use of heavily decorated dupattas and traditional Anarkali jewellery, especially the hair ornaments and nose rings.
After the show, Anupama said she would make every customer promise that she would make the most of her outfit by wearing it or individual garments at least five times. But I have a feeling the customer would want to wear it at least fifty times. It will be a precious treasure from the past.
Will you wear a Bronze Begum outfit to a wedding this season? Tell us!