NIVITA CHALIKI.

athaarah.

a high school senior project.

A collection, as I’ve learned, is a story. It’s a full narrative with a purpose and personal motive. Most collections have outside inspiration. The recent spring/summer collection for Gucci by Alessandro Michele made distinct references to Elton John, whose starry 70’s rock glamour was Michele’s apparent muse for many of the looks that were displayed on the runway. There was a higher meaning, a deeper symbolism behind the sparkly sequins and the bold old-fashioned silhouettes. But just as physical clothing makes an impression, so does the environment in which it is displayed. Just like the clothing, the environment must also have a story, a purpose. In the spring/summer 2018 Gucci collection runway show, relentless strobe lights and darkness made for a hypnotic, out-of-mind experience that enhanced the exaggerated shoulder pads, boldly colored draped fabrics, and outrageously bedazzled suits. Alessandro Michele, the creative director of Gucci and mastermind behind Gucci’s collections and extensive global image, said, “When I’m working on the collection, I’m already thinking about the space, and the music and the light. I think it’s no longer time to just talk about the clothes. In the beginning, it was something that allowed me to reflect my idea of beauty. Now it’s more than beauty. It’s a state of mind. It’s an idea of community and a really deep expression.” 

There’s a collection in progress by a student of Parsons School of Design titled “Azaadi” which is Urdu for “freedom”. Her name is Misha Japanwala and her designs are evocative and fascinating. I found her illustrations and visuals capturing and inspiring. She had used less conventional mediums to work with; the bodice of one of her dresses was made of liquid plastic and molded directly to the form of the model wearing it starting from her chin down to her lower stomach. She states that the designs are inspired by the women in Pakistan who suffer from cultural injustices like honor killings. This kind of fashion is meant more for an audience that is looking for art. Its purpose is no longer just a garment to wear, it’s a higher form of expression. It’s meant to capture and provoke so the significance of form and design overrides the practicality of function. With that purpose, some fashion seems outrageous and nonsensical to others, but the designer always has an intended message to come through and whatever that message be, it should come through in the collection. So for Misha Japanwala, her message is the courage and strength of Pakistani women and what they persevere through every day of their lives. So along with story, a collection should have a higher purpose and meaning that comes through in each design. This is what makes fashion a form of art rather than just a utilitarian product. 

But the existing tension between form and function is something that comes alive in brands like Comme des Garçons and the eccentric, unexpectedness hits you in collections like Alexander McQueen. Necklines the extend past the line of our shoulders may not be functionally efficient or practical but it is meant to create drama and enhance a unique vision. At first, in reflection about my own collection process, I didn’t push myself to think outside the bounds and experiment and play with certain elements that could elevate the creativity and essence of the designs. I wanted to get across this message of unity and show the blend of western and Indian cultures, and in doing so kind of limited myself. But, taking inspiration from more modern designers that push the envelope and a bit of advice from my mentor, I redesigned a significant amount of my collection with a different purpose: challenge the norms of fashion in each culture to create an innovative blend of dresses that tell the story of how I’ve grown up in the median space between both cultures in my own unique way.  

Along with that creative mindset comes the instant wow-factor, the hidden trait that immediately captures people and makes them want to see the rest of the collection. The first look is important. It’s the one that sets the rest of the designs. It’s simple—you don’t start the story with the climax, so naturally the designs also build up as the collection progresses—but innovative. It communicates your signature and personality through brevity and restraint. Then, as the collection continues, the designs slowly start to get less and less conservative and more and more personalized. Generally speaking, the collections for women’s clothing usually start out with simplistic suits or contemporary pant outfits but considering I purposefully wanted to only include dresses into my collection, I instead started my collection with shorter dresses and more minimalistic designs.  

And then, just how a collection starts out with a whisper of what’s to come, the end is a grand gesture that shouts about the previous designs and expresses the designer’s signature with no mind to limits or modesty. Whether it’s a piece that shows off the technical talents (like the blue-hued floor-length dress from Carolina Herrera’s Fall 2018 collection) or if it’s a piece that shows off the designer’s creativity (like the olive and cream floral coat that plays extensively with drapery from Alexander McQueen’s Spring/Summer 2018 collection) it’s a big climax that should both celebrate but also not stray too far from the narrative of the rest of the collection. Most people say that the first and last pieces of a collection, although should not be similar in any way, should still look like they belong together. The whole collection should run like a fluid narrative, with an eye-catching climax that reaches beyond the walls of the story. It should possess all the same elements as a film or a novel; purpose, emotion, deeper meaning, a character, evolution, climax, a hook, etc. 

The character of a collection is the wearer. There should be a girl. A person whose personality and story is the muse of every piece. A question of “Would she wear this?” is always an imperative part of the designing process. There’s a lot of factors in a collection that depend on the girl who is supposedly wearing them. If the girl is a New York socialite who cherishes comfort and style then the collection will most likely consist of street-style clothing like sleek white sweat sets or minimalistic casual wear. If the girl is a dual-identity artist who spends half her time in Japan and half her time in France, then the collection might include futuristic influences from Tokyo and combine them with classic deep colors or modern pantsuits or whatnot. The focus of the collection, regardless of theme or purpose, should stem from this girl. She may be created from pure imagination, or inspired by a real person, or actually be a real life muse. Some designers use celebrities or personal relations as muses. French designer Hubert Givenchy was good friends with Audrey Hepburn during her reign of stardom over Hollywood. She became his public muse, and Hepburn was always associated with Givenchy and vice versa. This kind of inspiration taken from a celebrity can also serve the purpose of furthering the business of your collection. While Givenchy may have just adored Hepburn’s persona, he may also have chosen her for her influence. Audrey Hepburn was not only a highly revered actress, but a prominent women’s fashion icon. If Audrey wore a Givenchy, it was classy and fashionable. If Audrey declared her undying love for Givenchy then everyone else would fall head over heels for the brand (and perhaps the designer) as well. In present day, with social media, this is a more prevalent form of marketing.  

Nowadays, models or celebrities with higher social media following tend to become campaign muses or brand ambassadors. If someone were to think of Versace now, they would most likely remember Lady Gaga or Naomi Campbell (along with the rest of “Gianni’s Muses” like Cindy Crawford, Christy Turlington, etc.). It’s an artistic choice to dedicate a collection or to use a social icon as a muse but it is also a business tactic to reinforce the economic aspect of fashion. Because, as with everything in this world, money plays a substantial role.  

There are many stereotypes of high end fashion that play into the meticulously crafted outrageous outfits and seemingly overpriced clothing. High end fashion, by definition, is clothing of expensive and/or extreme quality. It is made up of haute couture, designer brands, and trend-based contemporary designs. Haute couture in literal translation means high fashion or high dressmaking. It is exclusively custom-fitted clothing that meets a set of high standards. Designers like Christian Dior, Giambattista Valli, and Jean Paul Gaultier are haute couture brands. There are designers who push the boundaries of fashion in every way, like Comme des Garçons or Gucci (less so than other bands, but still pretty unique, especially with the most recent collection). But with that emphasis on creativity comes a narrower audience and an even narrower market. People are much less likely to purchase a couple thousand dollar dress that looks like an unusual explosion of contrasting fabrics and colors than a form-fitting hundred dollar dress. Though many appreciate the fashion as an art, fashion that takes a more consumer-oriented approach is likely to sell better. And that’s where the designer has two options: ready-to-wear or haute couture. Haute couture is less economically successful for the designer, unless the brand is enough of a selling factor like Dior. Ready-to-wear, which can be mass-produced, is more accessible to the public and therefore doesn’t require much to sell. But with ready-to-wear, even if there is a higher guaranteed profit, the room for creativity and personalized vision is lessened because of the need to mass-produce and match the general audience. 

All of this is what must be thought about when designing a collection. I figured, since I intend the collection to be eveningwear, it would be meant less as a ready-to-wear line for general audiences and more as a couture line. I still want to keep room for creativity and more unique ideas, so it wouldn’t be a collection meant to adhere to the masses but intended to be appreciated as a wearable piece of art. There is still a degree of functionality in my designs, as I didn’t want to get too strange with it because I want it to be something most people would wear to a black tie event or formal event. I wanted them to be unique but I didn’t want to challenge too much about the body or about fashion because I felt that would be too much to bite off with just one small collection. The personality comes through in the way I attempted to blend Indian and western culture into each design. Each choice reflects the way I grew up with both cultures and how I melded them together to create my own set of beliefs and my own traditions. The true story of this collection is the balance of having one foot here and one foot half way across the world. It’s my character, and I felt like that was a compelling enough theme to extrapolate so I didn’t add too much unprecedented elements to the dresses. There are no strange silhouettes or shocking color schemes but rather smooth physical interpretations of both cultures in a personalized way.  

There is a girl. As with any collection, there is a character but I found myself using my own experiences to create this character. She’s a desi (of Pakistani or Indian heritage) and she, like me, goes through a lifetime of struggle trying to fit in somewhere. It’s neither there nor here. She’s too involved in the modern culture around her but is absolutely in love with her family’s culture as well. A couple years ago, my mother and I were talking and I had said I wanted a traditional white wedding dress. She had stared at me and asked why I didn’t want to wear a saree like one normally would. Truth be told, I wasn’t against wearing a saree. In fact, I wanted both. I wanted to wear one of the beautiful, grand wedding sarees but I also wanted to pick out a wonderful white wedding gown. The girl that I had in mind while designing this collection was a girl who had the same dilemma. And she solves it having both. Yes, she has a white wedding dress but she also has a grand, sparkling saree. They are interwoven together with care, just like her. She is an intricate pattern of both cultures combined in such a way that they both shine and flourish together. Just as much as she is brilliant in deep maroon lehengas with shimmering gold embroidery work, she is beautiful in sleek body-hugging dresses with classic swooping necklines and backs. She is a girl who gracefully balances both sides of her world in everything she does, though she still internally struggles to actually belong in any or both places. 

This collection is kind of an introspection. That is its story. And that’s why I wanted to add a layer of emotion. I wanted to not only tell the story of gentle back and forth but also the repercussions of having such a divide. There’s a lot of emotion, both negative and positive, that comes with that. The girl perseveres through all of it. She stays true to herself and I tried to show that throughout the collection. No matter the progression of emotion, the delicate blend of both cultures stays the same.  

The emotion is the story, yes, but it is specifically a progression through the spectrum that represents the narrative. The dresses go from sad to happy to melancholy to helpless to elated and so on. Originally, it was going to be a definite transition from negative to positive, shown through the fabrics and colors of each dress. But I found that was contrasting with the traditional progression of a collection. And I also realized that a smooth transition from negative to positive is not at all how emotions work. Especially in my experience and in the story of my character, emotion isn’t a steady theme. In fact it is quite the opposite. Emotion is rocky and endless, a tumultuous journey. And so instead of having a polished beginning of negative emotions and an end of positive emotions, I decided to throw in the fabrics and colors in a way that each dress symbolizes the fact that one moment never consists of one singular emotion. Whenever we feel things, it is with great depth and chaos. We never just feel sad. It can be a mixture of bittersweet, nostalgia, frustration, and helplessness that makes us feel sad. But that one word isn’t enough. And similarly, limited fabric and color schemes for the dresses isn’t enough either. So while this makes the narrative of the collection seem less linear like a traditional storyline would be, I believe that communicates the inherent story much better than a smooth narrative line.  

In terms of a muse, I believe I very much used myself as an inspiration, only because this particular collection was taken from a lot of reflection and experience. Although, recently there has been a lot more celebrity influence in terms of embracing both cultures. Bollywood actors and actresses have been working more in the Hollywood industry and that is definitely something that inspired me to find a way to accept both cultures instead of treating them as warring sides of my personality. The more significant influence in this was music. This project coincided with my reconciliation with the language of Hindi and lyrics of Bollywood songs. I fell back into love with the music and the poeticism of the language. This newfound fascination and passion was spurred on by musicians like Zayn Malik who interweave the instruments and language into their songs and write full songs in Urdu in the style of contemporary western music and vice versa (English lyrics with Qawwali or Indian style music). Seeing those people successfully blend both cultures was definitely inspiration for this project and collection. But I didn’t have a specific person in mind other than my character girl and my own experience.  

There is much more to think about if this were to be a fully crafted collection available for sale. Perhaps that could be possible in the future but for this project, none of that is in the plan. To fully construct requires a lot of thought about the authenticity of each piece because some dresses have traditional embroidery which requires the work of an actual artisan from India. Another thing would be the physical presentation. All of this thinking settles on the second shelf of fashion. If I were to make this into a brand, then the business of fashion and the physical work would become substantial aspects to pay close attention to. However, for time’s sake, I am going to take up what I know I can handle which is to fully craft the collection and then make one dress to try and showcase what the collection would look like come to fruition. 

There are almost two distinct parts to the product; the actual physical representations and then the hypothetical elements that would be integral parts should this take the form of a real, fully-fledged collection. The hypothetical elements are the progression of the dresses and the way in which they are presented, and of course the physical runway.  

The way I picture the dresses to be worn and be adorned with accessories is shown in the final drawings. Every single model is barefoot, the dresses meant to be worn with minimal accessories.  

I’ve learned Bharatanatyam, a graceful and expressive form of classical Indian dance. It has been around for thousands of years and I am lucky enough to have trained under a wonderful teacher since I was seven years-old. The first time I walked into class, shy and fidgety with thick socks loosely worn on my size two feet, my teacher looked at me with a stern smile. She’s a beautiful lady with long black hair and an inherent grace I’ve come to associate with the top standard of Indian beauty. Her eyes are brown and when they looked upon me that first day more than a decade ago, they were soft but serious. She had pointed to my shoes and told me to take off my socks. One should only dance barefoot, she had stated, no shoes or socks. It’s out of respect. For the earth and for the gods. The lord of dance, Lord Nataraja, owns no clothes or shoes. He dances with bare feet. The first thing I learned in that class was the Namaskaram, a prayer and request to the earth beneath us to bear our dancing. We stamp and jump and beat our feet into the earth in various ways, it’s only basic courtesy to ask the earth first and take its blessing to do as we wish.  

I had never asked the earth permission to take a step. I simply walked, stumbling around in sneakers and flip-flops. But my dance teacher was strict. The only proper way to dance, to move, is to take permission with bare feet and absolute sincerity. And from this, I learned the culture and developed the instinct to perform barefoot. It’s a form of respect, and also a sign of divinity. Knowledge, dance, music, etc. are all considered divine, a form of the gods. Dance, for example, is a representation of Lord Nataraja. Whenever we dance, we invoke a form of him in our movements. And so, out of respect and to allude to the gods (and goddesses), we dance barefoot. We walk barefoot, we sing barefoot, we perform barefoot. In my own experience, I notice that anybody who gets up on a stage, regardless of what their age or status is, takes off their shoes. 

It’s a theme that is common in almost every experience I associate with Indian culture in my life. And I believe it also enhances the raw and genuine way I went about designing this collection. Everything in the collection has to do with my life. There is no polishing or distortion of any of the themes. I didn’t alter any of the truth I used as inspiration. Everything I put into this is sincere. And so the bare feet to me not only represent Hindu culture and tradition but also represents the fact that there is no mask or concealment of what these dresses represent. There is minimal jewelry to keep that bare authenticity up throughout the collection because most of the dresses are fancy in the way that Indian clothing is traditionally excessive and luxurious. I wanted to strip down the distraction of the fanciness of Indian fashion and really put emphasis on the fact that this is about what the dresses embody. So the focus isn’t on the sparkling, heavy jewelry but rather the actual clothing. 

The bare feet, minimal jewelry, and the profoundly conceptualized dresses. It is a deep, revealing piece of work. As much as I intend the dresses in this collection to be completely wearable as evening gowns, suitable for a ready-to-wear and high end market, I also view them as pieces of art. Each one is a carefully thought out visual rendition of a moment in time or a continuing struggle. Each piece symbolizes an important memory or experience. This collection is myself laid out raw, to be straightforward. Yes, much of my artwork in the past has had significant influence from my life. My songs are all embedded with feelings and images I carry around in my mind. But this project has been the most extensive reflection. I’ve attempted to put a whole life of conflict between the two sides of my identity into a collection of eveningwear dresses. This tightrope balancing act has affected everything in my life because of how fundamental it is to my character. I cannot define myself as solely Indian or American, and saying that I am both seems too superficial to be honest. There is a whole story behind the values and traditions I believe in or have made for myself. I want this collection to be viewed as a narration of that story. A visual representation of seventeen years of balancing two different worlds, taking control of them and finally creating my own in between.