Sanjay Garg’s new festive line, Romantics, takes inspiration from 18th century Rococo aesthetic and explores a fluid love
“If you were to make a love potion, what would it smell like?” Garg, laughingly, accuses me of pushing him with my questions in all my conversations, so I let my luck go a bit further. Fragrance is one of the biggest statements of a person. As philosophers often say, “You can’t hide” love And mushq [love and the smell of musk] No matter how hard you try.” And I’m sniffing for a story.
He takes the feed. “Something mysterious and smoky, like ash. But also orange flowers, freshly cut grass and water.” Nothing about roses! Garg is very distinctive, knowledgeable, perhaps India’s biggest boundary-pushing designer and designer. The scene is businessman, and high-minded. He has previously confessed that if he didn’t have a clothing and fashion brand, he would have been an activist. For the past few seasons, he has been letting his campaigns speak his mind. After the ‘others’ – his SS21 offering that included models in hyper-real, faces painted in surreal places with spooky music (which got the online troll army to work extra hours) – I wonder if he’s going to do this. Trying to soften the mood with a romantic take.
Actually, scratch it.
something about shimla
The campaign for Romantics was started as a five-part video series, shot by photographer and longtime Garg’s collaborator Ashish Shah at Shimla’s Chapel Hotel, the former summer residence of the late Raja Charanjit Singh of Kapurthala. . It’s not just a pretty location (Garg’s disdain for Palace Hotel campaigns is well documented). The Kapurthals were Indian royalty, but were known to be heavily influenced by European culture, which combined Indian and Western aesthetics – Garga’s manifesto for this line.
Saraswati? Beloved Hungarian-Indian painter Amrita Sher-Gil, who spent much time in Shimla, and was famous for both her realistic paintings and her love life. Shergill was openly bisexual. The imagery of the romantics features three models: two girls and a man living their best lives in a Rococo-inspired cottage. Garg says that he does not think of them (whom he has named Madhavi, Jamshed and Ruth in his head) as a modern couple. “They’re just young people discovering different aspects of their sexuality and love.”
The videos are short, but tell the full story about a time in the lives of three people in a signature Raw Mango nostalgia palette. “Sometimes love is the only thing that understands you like no one else has; [it’s] mental stimulation. And sometimes that is how the light falls,” he shares. The first short innocently begins with Jamshed enjoying his slow day of reading. By fifth, we are at one of the first campaigns in Indian fashion to suggest the possibility of a threesome.
beholder’s eyes
‘Would You Ever Design a Complete ‘Western Couture’ Pret Collection?’ Ever the opposite, Garg corrects me. “There is no such thing as an Indian or Western silhouette. It’s all a big blur now. India has always been a traitor country. pajamas and chuRIdars There are external influences as well. Blouse is not an Indian word.” It’s true: until about 200 years ago, Indian silhouettes were primarily woven garments called saris, turbans, dhoti And lungi,
Saree in romantic, corset inspired blouse, lehengas, and in a maxi dress in sheer organza accented with delicate pearl and bead work. There are also quilts, ruffles, and many nods to barrebond pieces. The European Rococo movement focused on the finest brocades from Italy and France; A garment that has now become synonymous with India, and to which Garg has dedicated his brand. Romantic features woven bows, delicate flora and fauna in ‘Varanasi brocade’. Indians gone booties, Ambis and peacock. The jewelery belongs to Hanut Singh, a well-known jeweler and grandson of the Kapurthala dynasty. It all comes together basically, with meaning.
His usual lemon, neon, and jewel tones don’t take the place—it’s a nod to black, ivory, blush, mint green and powder blues, which he refers to as sky (of the sky). “The colors speak of love that is not yet at its final destination. They are conjugal, unconscious… almost virgin.” Some of her more contemporary silhouettes in tight brocade are a whole new playing field, a dare too.
The Rococo, known as the Age of Enlightenment, gave rise to new ideas about existence and life, and within it a need for optimism and perhaps even frivolity of the human spirit. Garg has often reminded me that there are many Indias within this country, and with romanticism he is talking about an India (and mind) that was free before it was forgotten.
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