By Lavina Melwani

India is now part of the bone structure of contemporary fashion designers.

Bian collection.
India watchers were tickled by a couple of Indian connections in the recent Grammy Awards. After all, Norah Jones, who bagged an armful of Grammies, is half-Indian, the daughter of sitar maestro Ravi Shankar; Tony Kanal of the band No Doubt happens to be Indian, and lead singer Gwen Stefani is into bindis and mehndi. But what viewers may not have spotted is another desi connection: Rock icon Bruce Springsteen, the Boss, was dressed for the evening in Anand Jon! Indeed, in the fashion world India seems to have become almost a part of the bone structure of each season, with Indian colors, silhouettes, fabrics — and certainly the embroidery — showing up in the most surprising places.
Says Anand Jon, “There are a lot of subtle touches. Indian touches don’t necessarily mean paisleys or other literal symbols — it’s becoming a bit subtler — people are seeing there’s more to India than meets the eye. People are using the embroidery, the colors or the fabrics, but not in obvious ways any more.”
The spring collections, which were showcased in New York recently in the tents at Bryant Park, revealed a definite Asian inspiration. Vogue and WWD reported on the Asian flavorings of the season and while the Japanese and Chinese influences were much more visible in sexy, shortened kimono and cheongsam silhouettes, Mao collars and Obi bands, some dramatic Indian touches were there too in the collections of noted designers like Oscar de la Renta, John Galliano, and Jean Paul Gaultier. Oscar de la Renta, in fact, has been a long time India-lover and his opulent collection reflects the colors and crafts of India, especially his evening wear.

Nieman Marcus.
Major stores like Neiman Marcus also showed some Asian inspired offerings for fall/winter 2003, and in their catalog you can see the influence of the Indian kurta in Plenty, designer Tracy Reese’s line. One of the designs, a printed voile tunic in an earthy beige print has high slits on both sides and is made in India. Reese has many Indian touches in her latest collection.
While not too many Indian Americans have penetrated into the fashion industry in a big way, two young designers have carved out their own niche. Anand Jon showed his collection for the fourth year in a row, no mean feat in a fickle business where emerging fashion stars come and go with alarming frequency.
Although the economy has affected the fashion industry in general, Jon says he has an ongoing business, independent of retail, with a private client base that includes Palm Beach socialites, celebrities, Middle Eastern royalty and trendy heiresses. Jon gets his clothes embroidered in India and is launching in Florence soon, and is also planning a men’s line.

Anand Jon.
Jon’s client list includes many boldface names including Donald Trump, Lawrence Fishburn, Gloria Estefan, Naomi Campbell, P. Diddy, Queen Noor of Jordan, Princess Christina of Spain, The New York Knicks, Calista Flockhart. His retail outlets include Bergdorf Goodman, New York, Wilkes Bashford, San Francisco, CA Kapsiki, Palm Beach, FL and Luisa Via Roma, Florence, Prato, Rome.
But can real people really wear Anand Jon clothes, which are sexy, bold, and so revealing? “On the runway a lot of it is for effect, it’s a very visual business,” explains Jon. “You have to make a statement in 20 minutes and you’re competing with 120 other shows. So my statement is a lot of erotica and youth appeal.” He points out that a black jacket worn by Dayssi Olarte de Kanavos, the owner of the Ritz Carlton, in Vogue was initially shown on the runway paired with a bikini.
Again, Aretha Franklin, who is a size 24, also wears his clothes and looks as good as the pencil thin models.
Says Jon, “Beyond being a designer, as a young entrepreneur you have to have a radar around you. You have to be aware of all that’s going on, not just clothes. Music and film are so linked to the fashion world, and you have to have an eye for what’s happening next.”
A New York designer who has moved to Milan since the past three years is Sandy Dalal, who presented his Fall/Winter 2003 collection on January 14 on Via Clerici 10 in an elegant reading room behind La Scala in the Italian fashion capital. The collection included twisted plaids and striped suits, overlaid with either paisley prints or sponge-paint effects. Dalal’s Indian inspiration is subtle and merges with the meticulous research he has done with fabrics and treatments in Italy. His collection, titled “Scars” reflected his viewpoint on the state of the world.

Oscar de la Renta.
“The youngest ever winner, at the age of 21, of the Perry Ellis Award (the American equivalent of the Oscar for new men’s designers), Dalal is known for his assured tailoring and quirky use of patterns,” wrote WWD. The designer has a devoted following and his private client list.includes John Cusack, Beck, Paul Simon, and the Foo Fighters. His clothes sell in Barneys in New York, Maxfield in Los Angeles, Stanley Korshak in Dallas, United Arrows in Tokyo, Maria Luisa in Paris and Browns of London.
This season, another young Indian designer entered the high voltage world of New York fashion. Pia Fleming, who migrated recently from Delhi, was nominated for the Rising Star Award by the prestigious Fashion Group International (FGI) in Manhattan for her debut accessories collection.

> Sandy Dalal.
A graduate of Fashion Institute of Technology, Fleming did private label work for leading design houses such as Ungaro and Badgely Mischka, before launching her own label, Bian, in 2001. She designs a full line of scarves and handbags in everything from suede to leather, faux fur and wool, handcrafted with beads, sequins, semi precious stones, and embroidery.
Fleming sells to Selfridges in London, Barneys Japan, Harai in Los Angles and Piepers & Jojen in New York. This season she also created the accessories for the couture collection of Jamie Pesavento of Pesavento Couture, which was showcased in Bryant Park.
Currently she is also doing private labels for top designers, day wear and evening wear, both in ready to wear, and plans to launch her own collection next year.
“I’m inspired by Mughal architecture with its inlay work and by Indian jewelry,” says Fleming. “ I purchase my fabrics from Italy, Germany, France and India, but I use the crafts and techniques of embroidery which are particular only to India and nobody else in the world can do them. They are the most beautiful embroideries.”

Bian Collection.
Indeed, more than anything else, it is the embroideries of India that are making their way into totally Western designs. The embellished look is what keeps many craftsmen in India and Indian importers in New York smiling all the way to the bank. While the bulk of plain clothing is now coming from China, India is still the place for intricate embroidery and detailing.
Fleming, from her experience in working with top designers, notes: “That’s why India is prominent. People are going for the embellished look and the craft, because these cannot be duplicated in other countries. Crochet is hand-done in India and we also do applique embroidery very well, combining it with beading and trims. The fine art of zardozi, gold embroidery, does not exist in China or in other country for that matter.”

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