Nandita Raipurani, the better-half of the duo Hemant and Nandita, is ready to give Kashmir, a modern, edgy avatar with autumn leaves playing truant
By Asmita Aggarwal
Hemant and Nandita are celebrating ten years of togetherness in fashion, this year, and are hoping to climb the virtual ladder of creativity by pushing the proverbial style envelope. With roles neatly split, Nandita is the creative brain and Hemant, the number cruncher, and the small-town girl from Raipurani, (a village, some distance away from Panchkula) has made it to the big league of fashion. “I am from a family of doctors and we run hospitals in Raipurani, I wanted a part of my heritage in my surname, so I retained that epithet. It is a reminder of my humble roots and now that I have reached this far, the journey that I want to undertake is to make my label a brand,” she smiles.
And the first step to this transition will be when Hemant and Nandita get their pricing ‘right’, so that everyone can enjoy the sweatshirt made by them with the dancing peacock, which Bollywood dreamboat Deepika Padukone made famous. Embroideries and embellishments have been their forte as they source fabrics, nothing has been woven. “The magic begins with surface texturisation, and that peacock was so intricately embellished that it won hearts. Many times I think of doing a more affordable line, but then there is a tussle between pricing and effective offering,” she adds.
Her Autumn-Winter 2015 line for AIFW pays homage to the Khyber Resorts, Gulmarg, in Kashmir, the snow-clad mountains, the stunning meadows and the controlled warmth inside and unbridled cold outside, the resort serves as a metaphor for their eponymous line. “The bohemian dresses, tunics, tops which come with hints of lace, can be accentuated with embroidered capes; the inclusion of menswear fabrics (tweed, cashmere, felt),” she adds. Layering remains key, but this time the husband-wife duo have taken the leap of faith and played with traditional carpet embroidery from Kashmir. “Kashmir has a recurring motif of Chinar leaves, raw beauty and formidable peaks; we have added those on the folk-inspired dresses on a palette of greys, red and fuchsia to add a new dimension to the look,” she adds.
Nandita’s interpretation of Kashmir is more modern and fun, with mismatched prints and endearing pop elements. What they hope to offer is separates, so you can team up the cape with denim pants and a white shirt or just add the cape to a floor-length, high slit crepe dress (also their best selling item, till date). Seventies are surely back, with the fringing and tasseling, and the blanket capes fastened with a belt in earthy hues. “Surface ornamentation is a big deal for us, last time we did crystals and dabka, as well as Ikkat embroidery and this time it is carpet embroidery, a new genre for us,” she says.
Accessories ranged from visor hats and wedges, last year, for SS15 to earlier straw bags and hats, this time, it will be printed bags that will call the shots. Learning, adapting and evolving from their trade shows in Vegas, Paris to New York the duo, quick on the uptake know what to delete, retaining what sells. “When we started, we only did Indian clothes, but soon switched gears to Western outfits and now the challenge is to better ourselves every day,” she concludes.