In 1999, designer Anavila Misra visited Puducherry for the first time. Twenty-five years later, she now has a collection dedicated to the Franco-Tamil culture of the coastal town.
The smells, sights, and sounds from that trip that remained ingrained in her memory now find representation in her latest collection titled Été, which means summer in French. The town’s laidback pace also appealed to Anavila, whose clothes embody sustainability and slow fashion. “Right from the unique architecture to the way the people live, and even little things like windows with lace curtains, old recipes in boulangeries, the scent of roses mixed with coffee... all reflect a blend of cultures,” says Anavila, who was in Chennai over the weekend to showcase Été at GoodEarth.
During the initial stages of the edit’s creation, as Anavila delved into the confluence of Indo-French customs and traditions, more elements surfaced. It was becoming a challenge to pick one idea that would front the collection. Finally, she settled on the rose.
“Flowers and Nature have always been part of my garments,” she says. And thus, the rose plays a stellar role here, with its presence in every garment, hand-painted, block-printed, embroidered and in hand-block prints mixed with applique. There is a lot of detailing, she adds. For example, the blooming pattern features all the stages of floration, from buds and early flowers to late ripening, while forming a lattice network of rose creepers. In subtle Anavila style, a lot of the garments also have the words fleur d’amour, which means flower of love, embroidered across them, and lace detailing reminiscent of French aristocracy.
As a precursor to this launch, Anavila’s Instagram page has been blooming (and continues to) with posts that depict flowers and floral prints, not just on clothes, but also on wallpapers, props and decor. If you look closer, you will also notice croissants, French newspapers, and old-world crockery with rose motifs. “We are always in a floral state of mind,” she laughs.
For the most part, white is the designer’s choice for this collection, along with shades inspired by the French Riviera of the East, this includes pastel green, smoke blue, blush, and soft yellow, a colour synonymous with Puducherry’s sunny countenance.
The team at the studio has been working on Été since last March. The collection has 92 pieces, including saris, pin-tucked blouses and tops, kurtis, co-ord sets, shirt dresses, trousers, and jackets in linen, khadi silk, and khadi. Each garment took time, given the intricate nature of the work. The piece de résistance is the khadi silk sari in ivory that took a team of applique artisans and hand embroiderers 190 days to complete.
After showcasing the range in Bengaluru, Hyderabad, and Chennai, Anavila says she has made up her mind to go back to Puducherry later this year, pause for a bit, and revel in the laidback, simple joys of life that it offers.
Été is available at GoodEarth and on anavila.com. Prices start at ₹14,500.
