Far from the Blinging Crowd | Urvashi Kaur; A Label to Love

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By Rashi Wadhera

Fusion clothing always confounds us. It conjures up awkward visuals of ‘Indian Gowns,’ and gota patti corsets paired with skinny jeans. With so many newbies parading their collections as claimants of ‘fusion wear’, we don’t know where the sari stops and gown starts. However, while wading through the fashion jungle, knee deep in skirts and neck-high in blouses, we were introduced to effortless infuser Urvashi Kaur. With her contemporary and unique interpretation of Indian textiles, her designs embody what every fashion-savvy woman asks for: a triad of wearable, sustainable and affordable fashion.

She’s a self-confessed travel junkie and has had the good fortune of being exposed to myriad cultures across the world, which evidently double as inspiration across her collection. Strikingly international in their appeal, we notice how her cuts, silhouettes and styling reflect her exposure to a variety of cultures, all the while promoting the Indian textile. Think schoolgirl pleated tea-length dresses, cinched at the waist with a sliver of a belt, using fabric that almost certainly comes from khadi’s family tree, or a linen kurta with a hood! In a fashion season where bold, graphic and art-inspired prints get front row seats, Urvashi focuses more on experimenting with fabrics and colours, and these serve as the genesis of her collections. She embraces Indian textiles, and uses a lot of heritage hand-woven, organic textiles and natural dyes. Over her lines, we’ve noticed {and loved} that she uses indigenous Indian weaves {kota, mulmul and chanderi}, and age-old Indian techniques, like the boho reminiscent tie-and-dye, block printing and ikkat prints. Her consistent, almost defiant use of tie-and-dye replaces all our Janpath peasant skirt visuals {praise the lord}, given her perfect usage of the boho print. Showing the neon family that you don’t need to be loud to stand out, her colour palette has consistently been earthy tones of browns, greens and blue, interspersed with pops of one standout colour.

URVASHI KAUR (2)

Bordering on ethical fashion, she’s associated with weavers and artisans from several NGO’s from around the country, presenting diffusion silhouettes with the use of layering, unconventional drapes and textural treatments on fabrics. The palazzo-salwar hybrid is the perfect example of a standard drape done differently. Teamed with a long shirt, layered with an asymmetrical open jacket and topped off with a stole, the layered look works as a whole, and also if you were to separate the pieces. Her separates are investments. Since they’re mostly renditions of wardrobe staples, they’re timeless in their appeal in terms of wearability, age-bracket and most importantly - body types!

Although armed with an international fashion education {Esmod, Paris}, and a stint with both Issey Miyake and Marcel Marongiu, her design sensibility is most definitely Indian, while she’s allowed her constructs to be global. Modelled as a ‘glocal’ brand, her clothes effortlessly combine Indian origins and international silhouettes.

In our closets |

Retaining her signature style, her S/S 14 collection, titled Semah, is meant to epitomize the state of trance in harmony with nature and all its elements. However, all we could focus on was our state of trance when we realized we could afford most of it! A restrained colour palette encompassing natural dyes like indigo, reds, greys, ochre and ecru, the usage of sheer cotton weaves, and her finely engineered pieces of clothing ranging from tunics, angarkha inspired Djellabas, and long, voluminous tops and dresses, make Urvashi Kaur a label to keep loving.

Notes in our Little Black Book |

Urvashi Kaur attempts to revive the country’s vibrant textiles and textures by combining ethnic with contemporary, to produce a line of wearable, sustainable and {almost} budget-friendly fashion. From peplum vests, dresses and jumpsuits, to saris, Farsi pyjamas and pleated shararas, she’s our pick for understated but ethereal fusion fashion buys.

Follow her here.

Shop online here or here or here.

She also retails at Ogaan, {Haus Khas Village, Santushti and Emporio Mall}, Ensemble {Emporio Mall}, Miraya {Jorbagh}, En Inde {Meherchand Market} and Neel Sutra at The Oberoi.