Worshipping gods and goddesses doesn’t seem to be enough to pay one's obeisance and worship the deities in the festival season that kicked off with Navratras this month.
Giving Delhiites a chance to take their spiritual experience one notch higher, in this festive season markets are yet again flooded with clothes marked with Ma Durga's footprints, mythological figures and snippets from sermons.
Heena Malhotra, an inhouse designer for Chhabra 555 confirms, "We are sticking to Indian embroidery around Durga prints for this season. It's more of Kundan work around the hemlines of the clothes. We are a mass producer, so our range falls in anything between Rs. 2000-20000."
She adds that the newly-introduced cuts in this festival range are irregular hemlines with broad-bling borders and piques, contemporary variations in necklines and definitive yokes with ruched embroidery. A lot of crochet has been used in light to bright hues to replace conventional lace patterns.
"Lehenga sarees and half and half sarees with unconventional prints and patterns may remind you of gods-goddesses, historical monuments, and photography in this collection. In kurtis mythological figures, aqua life, flora and fauna and bejewelled prints are being introduced.", shares the designer sounding upbeat. In suits, one can find a plethora of flamboyance with a hint of unconventionality. Heavy dupattas and suits with minimalist embroidery are added to their collection this year.
Neepa Upadhyaya, a Delhi based-designer, avoids provoking any religious sentiments in her festive range. She says, "I design deities and motifs for the torso region only, respecting people's personal sentiments related to their religion. Go out for any Navratra night or a Diwali gifting spree, you would easily find people dressed up in mythological printed clothes. I have tried to pair up mythological dupattas and stoles to go with my collection in the festive season."
For the young one's who want an attire that is festive yet interesting in its own way, Heena recommends, "In our suits and sarees collection, we also experiment by using shloks- of which gayatri mantra is a favourite amongst the buyers- and Bollywood-ish one liners. Using the English alphabet, when this text is printed in the Hindi vedic font, its appeal increases manifold."