Narendra Kumar

Narendra Kumar is one of the few Indian designers who don't lose sight of the practical aspects of fashion in their quest for making a unique design statement.

Narendra Kumar is one of the few Indian designers who don't lose sight of the practical aspects of fashion in their quest for making a unique design statement. Back to his old love of creating woman's wear, Kumar has come up with a range of straight, somber office wear with a distinctly Indian twist.

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This morning, Kumar presented Chai, a collection that effectively conveyed the essence of his design idiom - practical, wearable prêt in a price range that lay largely in the very affordable Rs 300-Rs 1200 bracket.

In a booming economy where women of all sections of society have access to far greater disposable income, the Mumbai-based designer has come up with a line that boasts of spicy colours and smart straight silhouettes--and great prices.

Using natural fabrics like cottons, poplins, chinos, denims and also georgettes and leather, he created a range of Autumn-Winter 2004 clothing comprising of day wear essentials like pant suits, dresses and separates like shirts, pencil skirts, ruched up pants, and chic knit sweaters; evening/ club wear in form of fitted off shoulder dresses in stretch cotton knits printed in electric coloured funky prints that had a distinctly retro feel; and floaty evening options in form of sexy one piece georgette dresses. Embellishment was done using visible seaming, hand painting, zippers, pleating and coin sized copper coloured sequinning.

The colour palette included sedate blue, mango, salmon and pink, maroon, army greens, and midnight. Chai was prêt as it is expected to be - ready to wear, affordable and trendy!