Fashion Inspired By The Art Of Ballet

 Fashion Inspired By The Art Of  Ballet 

 

Watching the Fire Bird ballet by Igor Starvinsky in Vienna was a revelation for Sanchita Ajjampur. “It was an opportunity to savour the interplay between music, choreography and visual art,” says the designer, recounting the experience. So when she was looking for inspiration for a new line, the Fire Bird was a natural choice. To be unveiled at the Lakme Fashion Week on Monday, Sanchita’s Fire Bird line is a “tapestry of dark and delicate stories from the iconic ballet, highlighting the glamour of the ball gown and its contextual accessories down the fashion decades,” the designer says, adding, “This line is all about balancing ecstasy and harmony and making it excitingly modern.”

Sanchita’s collection is divided into the womenswear and menswear segments, with the line for women featuring plenty of delicate sheers embellished with exotic cut feather shapes and punched fabrics, metallic black, gold and rigid plastic (to impart a futuristic feel) and chiffons with opulent embellishment. The menswear segment however, draws from a vastly difference source — the Wild, Wild West.

“The creative spirit of the Wild West is an endlessly renewable style,” says Sanchita. “The Native Amer-ican influences are seen in the decorative detailing and add to the functionality of the garment. I’ve tried to deconstruct and explore mythology through new proportions where art and functionality collide.”

She may count Isabella Duncan and Tabitha Simmons among her personal style reference points, but she doesn’t design for any particular muse, Sanchita says: “It’s about a whole lifestyle where everything you inhabit is sumptuous. The clientele is mainly fashionable art-lovers, whose clothes reflect their avant-garde thinking. My creations are the ultimate expression of style, for those wanting to project it. I design for a stylish person who can balance individuality with conformity, and most of all, is intelligent, with a strong sense of self.”