India has become a prime target for luxury brands. The fascination with the country’s culture and, more pragmatically, the still-untapped business potential offered by the vast market has exponentially grown over the past year, when marquee fashion players took serious steps East, from staging shows locally, as in the case of Dior, or appointing local ambassadors, as done by Louis Vuitton and Gucci, to name a few.
Even leading a smaller-sized business, Alanui’s creative director Carlotta Oddi couldn’t stay indifferent to the country’s charm. A personal trip to India taken last year inspired her to direct her brand’s signature escapist approach toward East for the first time, too — and luckily so.
The exercise resulted in a laid-back take on luxury offered by the brand, and clicked with the transporting and mystical elements embedded in its DNA.
“It’s such a wonderful country. Its architecture, its colors — with the mix of vibrant and neutral hues — and its natural landscape have become an inspiration for jacquard patterns and stitches,” Oddi said during a preview in Milan.
In its most immediate form, Alanui’s signature bandana and geometric patterns were revamped with shades of saffron, papaya, pastel blue and pistachio. Nods to palace facades in Jaipur inspired the gradient effects embellishing the fringed back of knits, while new motifs ranged from fan shapes to multicolor chevron ones.
Paisleys were profusely employed, splashed on fringed jersey separates; appearing on crochet dresses or as crochet passementerie on denim pieces and bucket bags, and embroidered on Alanui’s luxe cardigans. An outstanding black style was handcrafted by Indian artisans and intertwined floral graphics, little mirrored elements and the signs of chakras in its rich pattern.
An intarsia version depicting the tree of life, as well as other variations portraying natural landscapes of palms, tigers, jungles and sunsets were also striking. In addition to its bread-and-butter knitwear, the brand offered skirts and kimonos realized assembling 12 different viscose panels, as well as in denim pieces elevated with toile de jouy motifs, tie-dye or gradient effects. Looser interpretations of the denim jacket to sarong-inspired skirts and jeans cut in roomy volumes for her and wide-leg fit for him were among the commercially-savvy pieces.
