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Weaving magic with stylish simplicity
Compared to the many other designers, dressed in their eye catching finery and moving in the lobby of the Grand, New Delhi, where the Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW) is being held you would just pass her off as a housewife.
Compared to the many other designers, dressed in their eye catching finery and moving in the lobby of the Grand, New Delhi, where the Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW) is being held you would just pass her off as a housewife. But there is more to her than her simple Kota sari clad figure and it is evident as Vidhi Singhania explains the intricacies of getting her hand-woven ensembles in the limelight.
"It's difficult because you are not creating designs from georgettes and chiffons and embellishing it with embroidery or coloured stones. You have to make sure that the weaves are straight that the borders are placed well," she says.
For a decade now, Singhania has been working with the Kota weaves especially the saris. "That is my passion," she confesses. "I began with designing my own saris, to holding exhibitions and then two years ago Be took my collection to retail at their stores."
Today she sells about 50-60 designs per season at the store. "Be gave me the confidence that I needed and LIFW, where I am participating, has strengthened my contention that weaves never go out of fashion. They are classic."
For her show Singhania made sure that every single piece that she showcased was hand-woven. "There is no piece that I got from the market," she explains. Her creations include sarees, trousers, dupattas, skirts and tops – they are classic silhouettes but with a contemporary touch to it.
"My strong point is the weaves, and when FDCI's Vinod Kaul told me that there was a scope for participation especially for the weaves I readily agreed. Weaves are my strong point, I don't have style sense or the cut for western-wear which is why my focus is the domestic market," she says modestly.
No wonder then her simple yet elegant cuts got her the applause, which she will remember for the rest of her life. Hard work does pay!
