Stay cool in wool - designers tell how

Wool has been perceived as a winter wear fabric, but the myth was broken here by some designers, who presented a spring-summer 'cool wool' collection designed especially for Indian summer.

Brought together by Raymond, a marketer, retailer and manufacturer of suiting fabrics along with the Woolmark Company, the global authority on wool, the launch ceremony was held on Monday at the Australian High Commission.

Indian designers Suket Dhir and Rajesh Pratap Singh and London-based designer Timothy Everest showcased their exclusive collections in the 'cool wool' fabric made by Raymond.

Dhir's exclusive collection was meant to redefine wool.

"Wool is a versatile fabric and is perceived to be a summer and a winter fabric all over the world. It is just here in India that we have a preconceived notion that it can only be worn in winter," Dhir told IANS.

His collection consisted of formals in "dusty colours" such as brown, salmon, peach, and blue in subtle Indian prints. And his clothes were teamed with scarves and bags.

"Dusty colours work with all skin tones, whether Indian or international. We have used Indian prints in a very global way, so the colours were also easily crossover... something that Indians can wear.

"I wanted it to keep it bright and peppy. We had the yellows, salmons and the peaches, and we had the greys, but at the same time it had the dusty tones which made it a little more versatile," he added.

The colour palette of veteran designer Rajesh Pratap Singh's creations was dominated as usual by white, navy, indigo and black. He even had a celebrity showstopper -- Bollywood actor Neil Nitin Mukesh, who looked dapper in an all-black sherwani with a cloak on top.

Neil found the design "interesting".

Talking about his collection, Singh told IANS: "It was basically about this beautiful fabric... It is a cool wool, which is very light... 100 percent Merino wool and it's basically for all weathers. We stuck to basic wool colour (white) and then we went into indigo, navy and black."

Timothy Everest, who has designed for international icons such as Tom Cruise and David Beckham, focussed more towards formals with hints of bright colours in the collars. He accessorised the ensemble with bows and bags.

The overall feel of the shows were enhanced by a live musical performance by the band Grain -- to the music of which models sashayed across the ramp.

Stuart McCullough, managing director, The Woolmark Company, was "very impressed" at the scale of the event, where their "great fibre" was used with "Raymond's great design looks" for a designer display.

"Rajesh Pratap Singh and Timothy Everest are very important partners in this display because of their ability to cut garments perfectly to sew to wools natural qualities," he told IANS.

The only hiccup the event faced was sudden rain, but it stopped right before the show started.