Pero's handwoven line rules the runway at AIFW

Designer Aneeth Arora of the brand Pero showcased a fall winter 2018 line on the fourth day of Amazon India Fashion Week (AIFW) Autumn-Winter 2018 that had a fresh take on the winter palette on garments that artfully displayed handlooms in the form of beautifully structured clothes.

"From our usual black and white monochromes to indigos, this season we decided to brighten the gloomy winters for an intense statement, using vibrant hot pink, corals, and moody winter hues such as black, grey and off-white. We chose pink and coral as the key colours for fall-winter 2018," said the designer.

Arora also revisited Scottish tartan designs with re-sized, oversized and undersized blockings celebrating their inherent traditional twists and weaves.

Although the inspiration is from a faraway land, these tartans have been hand-woven by local weavers residing in the hills of Himachal Pradesh.

"To compliment the geometry of checks, we have experimented by superimposing printed florals on chequered wool. With the help of our skilled hand embroiders, we have done ornamental needlework on appliqued flowers, rendering them with extensive embroidery techniques and play of material," she said.

For the designer, the most challenging technique was to work with fine count of merino yarns for developing special merino fabrics through machine stitching, where each yarn must be entangled with another to 'hold' the 'fabric' together.

Another highlight this season for her was 'passamanaria' (Portuguese for lace or trim) running along the tartans, stripes, contributing to surface texture, colour pop and a third dimension to textiles.

"We also carry forward our traditions of upcycling, by working on a classic trench coat and adding a twist to it. We adopted the surplus of a warehouse that was soon to shut and decided to upcycle the trenches to create limited edition pieces," she said.

The designer has also associated with Papabubble for the show.

"We at pero love all things handmade. We came across these skill-full candy makers of Papabubble who use a 100 percent handmade process to make sugar candies," said Arora.

Papabubble was born in 2004 in the Spanish city of Barcelona with the goal of reviving the ancient artisanal candy making tradition. It's a celebration of craftsmanship and creativity and is set in a live retail confectionery production "theatre".

--IANS

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