India in fashion

“For Europe, India and China were the luxury malls back in the 18th and 19th centuries, the spices and quality fabric both came from India and China,” remarked seasoned designer Peter d’Ascoli during a talk in the Capital. We’ve always thought that trends, technologies and luxury flows from the West to the East but it wasn’t so back in the olden times.

According to Peter, India impacted Europe a great deal in terms of high quality chintz fabric, the printed motifs and fabric producing technologies.

The other day, Apparao galleries in collaboration with The Lodhi Hotel presented the talk by Peter on “India’s impact on Western Textile Traditions”. Peter studied Textile & Product Design at the Fashion Institute of Technology in Manhattan and was keen on drawing and painting from his childhood days. In his talk he said going back to antiquity, the Indian civilisation was producing very high quality cotton.

“From ancient times to the 19th Century, many countries had this problem that all their gold was going to India in buying luxury goods. Hence there is also a political aspect of the story. Indian printed or painted cotton was discovered in the tombs of Egypt. In 1805, The Empress Josephine wore a dress made from a cream-coloured Kashmiri shawl under a second, red shawl.”

Having worked in New York with Diane von Furstenberg as studio director and then Covington Fabrics as creative director, Peter moved to New Delhi to open his studio, finding a gap in the Indian market for luxury and bespoke upholstery.

Peter d’Ascoli

Image: bridesmaid dresses

Bullish over Bandhej

He maintained that influence of India on the West was deep and still continues. “Bandanas, as we know were part of the Bengal trade. The idea of a bandana or bandhej, the Sanskrit word to mean to tie was a fabric that was going to Europe and the U.S. from Bengal. And stimulatingly enough, bandanas eventually became the quintessential American symbol for individuality and freedom extensively worn by bikers, cowboys and pirates who also raided these trade ships carrying spices, gold and fabric. Both aesthetically and technically, Indian painted and printed cottons dominated world markets for thousands of years because of their superior beauty and quality.”

The prints on the lungis of rickshaw pullers in Chennai, the plaid textiles known as Madras Plaid in the U.S. is seen in the latest preppy handbook of Ralph Lauren. Actors in Mad Men, the popular American TV show set in the 1960s, donned the Madras Plaid jacket.

“When the British were in India they discovered the Seersucker fabric, a light weight, puckered fabric and they started to make suits out of it for the hot weather. This tough fabric that originated in India, later being produced in England became a standard fabric for the locomotive drivers in Europe since it was durable and disguised dirt.”

Peter said the hallmarks of rebellion in America are sort of mainstream. “The hippy aesthetic the tie-dye, jewellery, long hair, meditation and yoga were an inspiration from India in the 1960s,” remarked Peter, whose D’Ascoli Studio is working closely with Indian architects and interior designers.

Lastly, he gave the example of the Hermes 2008 fragrance called, Un Jardin Après La Mousson (A Garden after the Monsoon), which explored the facets of an unexpected India, when the monsoon restores to the earth what the sun has taken, chasing away the burning breath of drought.

In conclusion Peter said, “We see an enormous amount of aesthetic influence, inspiration, direct copies of iconic status of so much of the creative expression that came from India. And India will continue to be a great source of inspiration to the West.”

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