A floral bower awaited the models as they waltzed onto the stage for Anushree Reddy’s show. The line of white roses and wildflowers divided the ramp along the middle as models glided out in different shades of pink. Though the designer admitted that she loves to work with this colour, her summer, resort collection was dominated completely by this colour. Pink ‘The Navy Blue of India’ is a collection inspired by a quote 1962 by Diana Vreeland. The editor of one of the most famous fashion magazines, she had expressed that the colour pink in India has the same kind of formal gravity that navy blue does in the west.
Bringing this quote to life, Anushree’s collection was a range of formal wear that displayed all shades of pink. Beginning with nudes and pastel shades, the colour palate warmed up to vivid hot pinks set off with golds and reds.
As always, the designer made use of a number of zardosi designs and an effusion of organzas, silks and khadis. As the models floated out to make way for showstopper Sania Mirza, the tennis princess glided out in a flared lehenga, a gauzy dupatta wraped around her artfully.
“Anushree didn’t give me any instructions. She has to be one of the most relaxed designers I have walked for,” said Sania, after the show. “We’ve been meaning to work together for ages now but somehow, it never worked out before now. Both of us being Hyderabad girls, I felt like this was a match made in heaven,” she added, with a laugh.
For Anushree, getting to work with pink so extensively was like a dream come true. “I love working with the colour and I have been able to use the colour palate to my heart’s content here. From the nudes to the hot pinks to the almost beige pink that I dressed Sania in, I have always thought that pink is a colour that one can do so much with,” she said, adding, “I’ve used a lot of floral motifs this time around, and unlike other times, these were mostly embroidered. So, that was a very intricate and time-consuming process.”
Though the dresses seem elaborate and heavy, Anushree ensures us that they are meant for summer and are light enough on the body. “Even though it’s summer, I have mostly stuck to silks and organzas because these are formal clothes. I’ve stuck with the colour palate more than the material when it comes to
the summer theme,” she smiles. “Still once you put on the dress, your body carries the weight and they’re not nearly as heavy as they look, since they are made from light-weight material. The collection is a mix of style and comfort,” she concluded.
