Prison breakthrough

There are designer flu masks, band aids, slings (remember Shah Rukh Khan’s sling at Manish Malhotra’s show last year?) and even designer dog wear. But did you ever imagine a top-of-the-line designer prison wear?

There are designer flu masks, band aids, slings (remember Shah Rukh Khan’s sling at Manish Malhotra’s show last year?) and even designer dog wear. But did you ever imagine a top-of-the-line designer prison wear?

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In a first-ever, Delhi-based designer Reynu Taandon created two unique prison inmate outfits for her show stoppers — Manoj Bajpaye and Neil Nitin Mukesh — at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week.

At Taandon’s show on Tuesday, the actors walked the ramp with the director of their upcoming film Jail, Madhur Bhandarkar, and co-star Mugdha Godse. “Madhur and I wanted to do something unique, while maintaining the authenticity. Prison uniforms are made out of muslin, and so I designed two muslin kurtas. And since prisoners serving a life sentence wear yellow bands, I’ve included yellow bands in my design,” says Taandon. She adds that the numbers on Neil and Manoj’s uniforms — 90 and 100, respectively — are actually their prison numbers in the movie.

“Neil also told me that the three-fourth pants worn by the prisoners usually leave them feeling cold and asking for blankets. So I decided to make full-length cream coloured khadi pants,” says Taandon. The actors also walked out in handcuffs with blood smeared on their faces and hands to highlight that life in prison is tough and inmates are often bullied.

While Bhandarkar says that they might consider “donating the outfits to real prisoners”, Taandon is open to designing a line for the inmates of Tihar jail.