Nil, one half of the designer duo Dev R Nil, decodes their winter cocktail line for The Telegraph.
What’s the idea behind your winter cocktail collection, which is an extension of your festive line, Maqbara?
Our positioning in the wedding industry is such that people come to us primarily for all the other functions surrounding a wedding, which include the cocktails, bachelor and pool parties. If you have a bride and groom, we have 20 others from the two families, which is quite a fun thing.
The whole idea of the collection was that even if it is a wedding, it does not always have to be heavy, like a lehnga or sherwani. These are contemporary clothes and we gave them little twists by adding faux leather patches and accessorising them with printed silk shawls. It becomes very easy, functional and has repeat value — you change accessories and it looks different.
Maqbara was a lot about surface texturing and then we thought why don’t we take that and create something more wearable for those who don’t want such heavy surface ornamentation. So we created a surface derived from the razai (quilt) and we have used square pieces of prints and other stuff to create a different aesthetic. Our quilt-inspired print line is almost baroque in its look and feel. With its jewel-like appearance, it aptly fits the festive mood-board. The print can be paired in various ways — as complementary separates or a busier print-on-print look.
You can’t get through this winter without a touch of bling and her red jumpsuit has oodles of it! The statement bow on the side draws attention. His red velvet bandhgala with handmade buttons has been teamed with multicoloured Crowded Cat-printed trousers. Picture: Pabitra Das
Our models form an almost-vintage ensemble in this look that plays up the quilt print. She in a grey pipe-embroidered bomber jacket with a draped skirt and he in matching bomber jacket and trousers. Don’t missed the signature grey Crowded Cat-print shoes Neeraj is wearing. Pictures: Pabitra Das
Tell us about your love affair with prints...
If you look at the history of fashion, prints have always been there. For example, when someone wears a T-shirt with a caption, that’s also a print. So prints will always continue. We completed 14 years of our label in December and we have always used print as a mode of reflecting our state of mind and to reflect the general mood of society; our prints have always shown this contrast and we will continue to do that even in the coming year. There are multiple ideas that people are working on together that we are weaving into a unified look and form.
The Crowded Cat print seems to be a favourite of yours...
This is part of the line we launched early in the festive season with these cats that have a curious and suspicious look on their faces. It is a reference to the present political climate of suspicion and mistrust. We have used the cats as a metaphor for human behaviour.
Her navy blue gown with a touch of Mughal embroidery gets a hint of androgyny with the white tuxedo jacket. His white shirt has applique work with the same Crowded Cat motifs that feature on his trousers. The black satin cummerbund adds an edge to his look. Picture: Pabitra Das
A solid-coloured sari paired with a gold blouse is always a winning combo and pairing it in this wine-hued draped sari with a metallic golden pipe-embroidered tasselled blouse. A wine-coloured faux leather achkan paired with a kurta with leather detailing and churidar in the same hue complements the look. A printed silk shawl slung completes the look. Picture: Pabitra Das
What is the future of print in fashion? Do you think it will continue to be popular?
Absolutely! Because now even men have taken a liking to it; even the man who would earlier shy away from wearing prints. The printed pants that we do are very, very popular all around, from Mumbai to Delhi to Calcutta.
Prints will continue to generally reflect the scenario around us and how fascinated we are with it, whether they are pop-art, kitschy, subtle storytelling or taking inspiration from architecture.
The quilted pattern is also quite interesting...
Whether it is the razai or the kanthas or the architectural references, they were strewn all around us and when we put all the geometry and our motifs (such as the butterfly) together, the quilt pattern was created. And when you layer them and do the top-stitch, it gives a quilt form and then we gave it a contemporary look.
