The classic sari gets some quirky makeovers

Back in the 1980s, when British designer Zandra Rhodes visited India to judge the Miss India contest, she reinvented the sari by giving it a crinoline skirt trim and adding arm holes to the pallu to let it slip through without having to worry about getting the drape right. Ever since, designers like Yves Saint Laurent, John Galliano and Jean Paul Gaultier have added their own twists to the famous nine yards, combining it with dresses, jumpsuits and kimonos.

In India, though, it’s only recently that designers are experimenting with the classic garment, giving it makeovers that vary from a sari gown to jumpsuit-saris to what designer Sabyasachi Mukherjee calls the “chhotu sari”. Design house Satya Paul was among the first to come up with trouser saris in 2007. For his show in Los Angeles to introduce his spring-summer 2009 collection, Ravi Bajaj did a series of poncho saris, while at the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) last season Mukherjee introduced his ankle-length, ruched saris inspired by the way tribal women in India drape their saris. Several others like Tarun Tahiliani, Varun Bahl and Gaurav Gupta have also worked their own ideas into the ensemble in their recent collections.

At the recent Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW), young designer Nida Mahmood had her models do the catwalk dressed in sneakers and jeans, with a sari draped on top of it. The net fabric of the sari was just perfect to get a glimpse of the jeans, and the sari was worn high enough for the funky sneakers to be seen. “I wanted to bring out the Indian element in a modern context. If you think a traditional sari is not your thing, then there are a thousand different ways you can contemporise it. It’s not necessary to stick to the traditional way,” says Mahmood.

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