Designs on the diva
He’s among the most respected, and yet low-key names in Indian fashion. So it’s a privilege indeed for Mumbai to have a chance to witness the elegant designs of Rajesh Pratap Singh, when he presents the grand finale show at the upcoming summer/resort edition of the Lakme Fashion Week.
Speaking to us in the run-up to LFW, RPS explained that the finale line will feature an interplay of light and dark, and lots of cool metallic shades. “The colours in the line are something we’ve been working on closely with Lakme, so we do have a lot of fabrics in metallic shades. We also have real metals — steel, aluminum — woven into the creations, on high-tech looms,” the designer says.
Did we hear him say “real metal”? How do you incorporate that with fabrics? “Well, it’s not the easiest thing in the world,” RPS admits, and laughs.
While the grand finale line is sure to have some truly innovative designs, an RPS collection that wouldn’t have his signature “white shirt” seems implausible. Indeed, the designer admits that the white shirt — such as the one sported by men in the rural areas of his home state Rajasthan — will feature in this line as well, albeit in a reimagined avatar. “You’ll be seeing hints of it,” RPS promises.
Moving away from his latest show, and going back to his design inspirations, RPS says that the reason he probably is so influenced by the classic white shirt is because it represents to him the idea of purity.
“And it’s more than a fashion statement — it’s a lifestyle. It hasn’t evolved over a season or two, but over a century,” he points out.
The first truly beautiful garment RPS recalls also has a century of evolution behind it — the sari. “The sari was what my mother wore,” he says. “So to me, it is the perfect Indian garment.”
RPS’ eponymous label was set up back in 1997 — and the journey has been an eventful one. Not that the designer muses on what his label achieved. “I haven’t really looked back. I just go with the flow. I’m glad that I had the chance to meet interesting people, the privilege of experimenting with my designs. Of course, I’ve also made a lot of mistakes,” he says.
The LFW grand finale should certainly be an interesting note in the journey. RPS — who admits that his design process is “very disorganised and chaotic”, especially because he “wastes too much time with fabrics” — says his showstopper Kareena Kapoor seems to have liked what’s been created for her. “But we’re working on a couple of other options as well,” he says. “So it’ll be a surprise.”
