Seeing Red

The colour red is ubiquitous in the sartorial memory of the Indian Subcontinent. While the primary image it evokes is bridalwear, red is more than brocade saris and lehngas. Perhaps the inescapable permanence of the colour in Indian fashion can be attributed to the availability of red dyes — sappan wood, madder root and tamarind. It pops up in street stalls selling accessibly priced faux leheriya and bandhni in shades of laal-gulaabi (reddish-pink) and streetsign rouge. It stars in lac bangles and enamelled meenakari jewellery studded with rubies. It is resplendent in the terracotta-red tones of Kashmiri Kani shawls while a more vibrant version dominates in its Naga counterparts. The colour ignores the geographic and ethnic boundaries of India — there’s a Parsi-gara red, the red dotted and striped mashru satins from Gujarat, the austere red and white pairings of Bihar, West Bengal and Assam, and the scarlet silks embellished with gold zari of temple-style kanjivarams and patola ikats (from Kanchipuram and Patan respectively). It turns up in carpets — tufted, block-printed or woven — and tapestries too.

The editorial features a lineup of fashion and product designers located across the country, and transcends the overtones of reds in Indian bridal fashion. For the feature, three designers based out of India – Kahkasha Sidra, Anmol Venkatesh and Devanshi Jain – contributed exclusive custom pieces. For Patna-based Sidra, the colour reminds her of crisp salwar-kameez suits and red bindis, as presented in her white organza set with bindis in applique. Bengaluru-based Venkatesh constructed a cape out of the Tamil koodai basket weaving technique and Delhi-based Jain created a red sculptural hood that brings to mind the red ghunghat. On the other hand, London-based Hiya Bahukhandi presented a hand-felted scarf dress with a satin base, a never-before-seen design.