indian designers

The global cool factor of Bollywood has put India center-stage, and from Bryant Park to Paris, Indian designers are edging onto Western runways. While companies have long mined India to produce mass-market prêt wear for the West, now it’s Indian designers who are mining their own culture to produce couture wear for the jet set. Designers have reinterpreted their glittery, all-out subcontinent colors and embellishments for Western audiences, blending traditional techniques with cutting-edge shapes and Western silhouettes—and people are taking notice. Naeem Khan has been an established figure in New York since debuting at Olympus Fashion Week in 2005; Sabyasachi Mukherjee attended Milan Fashion Week in 2004 and entered the Manhattan tents last year. Manish Arora, a celebrity in India, and newcomer Anamika Khanna, both debuted at the 2005 London Fashion week—and both are the first Indian designers to be invited to showcase at the Paris Fashion Week this fall.

The former Halston apprentice and son of tailors for Indian royalty, Naeem Khan launched in 2003 and quickly won a celebrity clientele, from Beyonce to Catherine Zeta Jones, for his passionately glamorous, figure-hugging gowns and sassy cocktails dresses. The gowns he designed for the Dreamgirls finale influenced his fall collection, full of slithery bias-cut gowns in oxblood red and rich browns. His talent lies in svelte and willowy red-carpet designs, but what defines Khan’s output is his elaborate, labor-intensive workmanship: Shimmery cocktail dress with organzas appliquéd with abstract patterns of patent leather, pleated and steam-cut organza ribbons, jeweled necklines. “So much of Naeem’s success,” says Ken Downing, fashion director for Neiman Marcus, “is being able to take his family’s background, with its knowledge of embroidery and beadwork, and use a light of hand to get a very modern approach.” He adds: “His clothes are sexy, and still have a lovely romantic quality about them. You are the star when you wear the clothes.” Linda Fargo, a buyer at Bergdorf Goodman, agrees: “Naeem knows how to design for women and enhance their beauty.” In the works: a home furnishing

“He’s in a totally different zip code than everybody else,” says Tracy Ross, owner of the eponymous West Hollywood fashion boutique. The Calcutta-based upstart outfits Bollywood bigwigs Amitabh Bachchan and Rani Mukherjee. His designs are tricked out modern-Renaissance, with whimsical cuts and a geek-chic style. Ross says he reminds her of Dres Van Noten meets Comme de Garcons and Rick Owens. “I love his mixtures of beadings and fabrics and graphics.” Influenced by Prada and Chloe, Mukherjee’s fearless designs run to trapeze and circle skirts and embroidered khadi, an Indian handspun fabric. But the sell is in the fluid results—a princess sleeve dress may easily combine polka dots, a golden color, and floral elements. The spring/summer 2008 collection, Mukherjee has said in interviews, will involve quilting, sportswear-derived evening wear, and a lot of layering—“somber, understated, with a lot of coffee brown.” Watch for it at New York’s fashion week this fall. Ongoing projects include a bed and bath line with Bombay Dyeing, and in the works are a soon-to-launch jewelry collection and possibly a menswear line.

Well-loved by the eccentric and fashion-forward, Arora has designed for Aerosmith’s Steve Tyler, Bianca Jagger, Anoushkar Shankar, and the late Isabella Blow. Psychedelic patterns, sci-fi houndstooth, rocket ships, and voluminous printed garden dresses embellished with feathers and fabric flowers are the typical shapes and textures emblazoned on Arora’s art-driven, sensationalist designs, often in 60s silhouettes. Fabrics tend to be stiff and glossy—lurex, satin, wool, and silks printed with metallic and luminescent dyes. Jason Broderick, a buyer for international design wear at Harrods, says, “If you’re someone with a strong character,” says Broderick, “Manish is the one for you. His collection is quite graphic, with the Indian element of fantastic beadwork, and huge amount of color whether it’s winter or spring.” Arora’s Fish Fry, 12 limited-edition couture sneakers for Reebok, became collectors’ items. In the works: Manish Arora eyewear to launch in 2008, Fashion In Motion (Sept 7) at the V&A in London, a collaboration with MAC, and product designs (bags, purses, kimonos, rugs) for The Conran Shop, in stores this September.

A little bit Boho, a little bit chic, Khanna straddles the line with mismatched and bohemian ethnic separates and neutral color palettes. Silhouettes tend to be unsculptured and beautifully draped. “Everything is in the detailing,” says Karima Popatia, owner of IndoMix boutique in Manhattan, who thinks the beauty of the Calcutta designer is that she makes her own fabrics: “She layers with fabrics, does appliqué, and constantly dyes fabrics and washes and rewashes them.” Fabrics run to cottons and chiffons, with embroidered or appliqué. She also harnesses traditional techniques: tea-staining, quilting, printing. In India she might do a trapeze-style kurta with pleating, while here she does a lot more unconstructed stuff, though her patterned knee-length jackets are a refrain, and her contrasting textures and patchwork are her signature style. “Khanna is a very crafty and independent spirit,” adds Popatia, noting that the kind of person who picks up Khanna’s clothes is someone “ahead of the pack, and not with it.” The label Ana-Mika, launched in 2004, is now owned by U.K. based company Boho London.