Anavila Misra’s fashion showcase at The Leela, Hyderabad, was a mood. One of impossible romance and the lightness of spirit. Old world, steeped in delicate emotions, yet powerfully modern. Titled ‘Sarmast’, the evening of its unveiling saw the expansive Leela lobby turn into a mise en scene of carefree drama, refined elegance and a certain purity of aesthetics. The Anavila aesthetics that has been celebrating the idea of womanhood for over a dozen years.
There was an element of fantasy, right from the grazing table, the beautiful flowers and retro tunes. Of course, there were saris, but Anavila also incorporated utterly laid-back separates. The styling and detailing oozed feminine glamour. The pretty boys in their florals and tassels added to the charm.
Post-show, Anavila sat down with t2 to decode the newness in her thoughts and the need for shringar.
Anavila, bowled over completely! What was the starting point of ‘Sarmast’ for you?
The vision for ‘Sarmast’ (translated to poetically intoxicated in Persian) started last year. And we were doing a lot of research on rococo and baroque architecture. We feel that culture, architecture, art and fashion are always interlinked. So any era you see, you see very close connection between these. When you look at baroque and rococo, you also see it was a maximalist extravagant architectural direction, and the clothes were the same too. The maximalist, flouncy, pleats, gathers, layers and layers, laces, all of that you see in that era when you go through documented history and portraits.
We wanted to interlink the two and bring the maximalism of that era in the presentation as well, so of course, the clothes had to speak about it, but the presentation had to take you to that era. So that was our vision and I’m very glad that you saw it like that.
The styling was amazing… with the pearls…
Hyderabad is known for pearls, the Basra pearls. So, we wanted to definitely keep it as one of our defining languages for the styling and also jewels. The Nizam period was very detailed on the jewels which were worn and used. Apart from pearls, Golconda is also known for its diamonds.
So, that whole sheen of stones and pearls coming together was an integral part of our thought process. And even if you see our lehngas closely and some of the blouses, you will see the use of pearls and beads in the detailing.
You have reimagined the house codes with ‘Sarmast’. You were saying you’re trying to reach out to a newer audience…
So that is of course there, but I think also, the times that we live in, more and more women are, I think, accepting and living completely true to their bodies and sensuality. I think we are more aware of the feminine side of us. Like we say, it’s a man’s world, I would like to say it’s a woman’s world. And then when we say it like that, I think to fit in a role or to fit in a particular workspace, you don’t need to act like a man and become, you know. I think that we’ve done for a while. You’re in a management role, you need to wear a suit or you need to wear a sari in a certain way. I think it’s also about breaking that ceiling.
So we also unconsciously are giving into, when we are starting to dress like a man in a boardroom. We’re also, I think, unconsciously giving in to the whole thought that the man rules the boardroom. I’m not saying that the bralettes and the blouses and the sensuality which we show will go to boardrooms or meetings, but I’m saying the acceptance of that part of our being is so important. And to be not, you know, fitting in somebody else’s boot and trying to be something. Be yourself. I think the rise of the feminine is very evident. That was very important as a thought.
When I look at young girls, I’m looking at their clothes and I’m like, how are they experimenting and so unabashedly, confident about how they’re looking, what they’re wearing and trying new things. I think that was really an inspiration for me that, you know, we try to mould ourselves into a certain kind of a fit, to just break that.
What suits you and how you would like to experiment and be in love with your body in terms of how you visualise it… very important in the presentation, I think. That was it.
And if it reaches out to a newer, younger audience, that is really what we also wanted. Because, you know, the kind of crafts and intricate techniques we work with, they’re not age-bound. But in our presentation, we were always more mature till now.
And the girls, the young girls who are looking, the world is their playground. To be able to integrate a very global vision for these crafts is something we have to work towards. I think that was something which I’ve been thinking about for the last one year and this collection is a small step towards that.
Tell us about the sari drapes...
In this collection, from the Nizam time, there was a huge European influence. So, if you see, these queens were getting laces from outside, from Europe, and then they were integrating. So, they took chiffon sari and covered it with laces. Such an integration of West and East happened during that time, and they were really fashionable. So, that whole aura. Some of the portraits we saw, and we were like my God, when and how?! You know, the way they’re wearing their jewellery, classy, beautiful hats and caps and headgears and the draping of the sari, putting the brooches and diamonds. So, that is what was the inspiration behind it.
That we are enjoying the indulgence and that’s why ‘Sarmast’ no… you’re so intoxicated with the beauty around you… the beautiful feminine textiles, the jewels, the colours, craftsmanship, all of that.
In Bengali, we have a word called ‘shoukhin’…
So, all the Satyajit Ray movies or Rabindranath Tagore’s novels and the heroines there… so clearly indicated that whole dressing up, which is so important. In between this whole thing of chasing a corporate life in a certain way, we forgot about that shringar part of our morning. Giving your body and your mind some time to, you know, put yourself together. And they used to do that. It’s not that they used to be free and there was all the time. That time was their's to get ready in a certain way. And to take that effort. Spending that time with yourself. I think it lays the foundation of how you carry yourself through the day.
All of us, we’re running and our on our toes. But that doesn’t mean that half an hour you cannot devote to yourself. I also overdo, you know, abhi bahut kaam hai, let’s just rush out. But the day you spend those 15-20 minutes… that is a learning from this, that changes your whole day.
You’ve changed the entire landscape of how a certain generation perceives saris and made linen saris a part of the vocabulary…
Work with linen started with the whole thought that, we have to give Indian women a sari which has a global appeal to it. So, that’s why the yarn. And also, it is handloom, because I really wanted to work with handloom, rooted in our craft culture. But then there’s the yarn, which changes the whole game. So, you take linen, which is a good yarn for our tropical climate. So comfortable, drapes so well, you know, because of the experiments we’ve done, we’ve made it more gauzy… takes you through the day. But, you know, the first time we did it, people were like, what is this? And now, we are talking 12 years later, it is an essential. Every sari-wearing woman will have at least one linen sari. So, it is a must-have.
About our journey of sari, I think it started with this basic, classic linen sari, which was supposed to give a very international feel to a sari. Then we said let’s break it and create some contemporary pieces, which are, of course, you’re taking the weaving forward, but you’re also creating something more minimalistic and simplistic with linen. It’s only the yarn which is coming into play. Once we became very confident with linen itself in a year or a year-and-a-half, and then we said, let’s now start experimenting. Let’s put in a little bit of zari. Yes, let’s do blends of different yarns. Let’s do motifs.
We played with the loom to create dobbies and jacquards, all of that, because you got confident with the yarn itself and you knew how it will play out on the loom. And after that, when you got a group of women who started liking our saris, loved wearing the sensibility which we were creating, then we started experimenting with different yarns.
So, a bit of work with khadi because that was a natural extension. We work in West Bengal and khadi and khadi silk is so beautifully made there. We went to khadi, then khadi silk, blending of khadi and silk, and then silk, we’ve done some silk also this time in Benaras. But I’m touching Benaras with kid gloves because so much work and such beautiful work is happening. How do I create something which is completely fresh? So we did three styles this time, which are those vases and flower bouquets with a little bit of geometric design interwoven.
Khatwa, the applique work which we do in Jharkhand, is very core to whatever we do because we have a group of women who’ve been associated with us since the inception of the brand, 12 years. So we work on patterns where we can give voice to their work. And in these 12 years, from making those kind of very naive, easy narratives, they’ve now started creating these beautiful pieces, the lehngas which you saw, the khatwa work, the bouquets, they were all made by those women by hand and then embroidered over that.
We’ve just done 35 pieces because every piece needed so much attention and detail in terms of what motif, what techniques and then once the khatwa was done, we took two days just to decide the colours and then the work. So yes, from linen to experimental blending to experimental techniques to also explore other yarns and now surface ornamentation, it’s been one step at a time. All of this also keeping in mind different drapes and different women basically.
Your kids wear is how old?
Just now. We’ve been making once in a while. We’ve been doing some for our clients… but this time we wanted to put all of those things together. All natural yarns. Even if there’s an organza, there is a layer of khadi inside.
How did Maison Isa happen?
So, we did a few things for Leela Hyderabad. They said, we love your work and can we please collaborate to work on this store, which they had already envisioned.
The home line is also new. It’s for a certain audience…
We launched it in January in India, but we’ve been working for 10 years on export. It’s an extension of work for our clients. So, we’re getting from the wardrobes to their homes, to their lounge and living areas. I think comfort and mindfulness, which we look in our clothes, is getting the same importance in our homes. There’s this whole survey that the vibration of linen is in a way that it is the most restorative.
Menswear is, of course, a part of the plan…
The men have been feeling neglected (laughs). So, let’s see what we get to do.