The most attended show of the Lakme Fashion Week in partnership with FDCI, held last month in Delhi, belonged to Grounded in Nature presented by Birkenstock with Shivan & Narresh. A packed house saw the designer duo of Shivan Bhatiya and Narresh Kukreja showcase a relaxed line inspired by their trip to Finland last spring, their first to a Scandinavian country. Imbued with body positivity, a sense of freedom and a certain uninhibited cool that the brand is synonymous with, 'Suomi Series' was a play of art, patterns and prints. Narresh later decoded the collection for t2.
The set design was a story in itself...
The whole show was inspired by Finland. The Finnish invented the sauna more than 2,000 years ago so the whole set design was inspired by the sauna. In a 10,000sq ft space, we built a sauna... around which the show happened.... there was a sense of ease in the whole show.
The new collection is called 'Suomi Series'. People who are from Finland associate 'suomi' as a word for their country. Finland is originally known as Suomi.
How did the association with Birkenstock come about?
The collection packed in a range of holiday essentialsA model in Shivan & Narresh at Lakme Fashion Week in partnership with FDCI, in DelhiCaption
That came about very naturally a few months ago when Birkenstock got in touch with us, exploring this idea of doing this show together. Birkenstock as a brand has never done any fashion show and have done key associations in the past like one with Valentino and Manolo Blahnik.... This was a different kind of association and a natural fit. We are a resortwear brand and they make sandals and everyday footwear that's extremely functional and very comfortable. So, there was a great synergy to begin with. It was a logical fit for the two brands for this ready-to-wear show.
When we presented our moodboard for the show, of the colours we were presenting and what they were presenting for this season, it was exactly the same. We had the same blues, greens and yellows.
You showed a whole gamut...
This was honestly our biggest ready-to-wear show yet. We presented 60 looks with three signature prints called Saun, Leviland and Aurorays. In terms of silhouettes, you saw the whole range of holidays, from summer to a few winter holiday pieces. In terms of techniques, there were a lot of hand-painting techniques this time. There were a lot of hand-painted cottons and linens. Knits were huge. There were a lot of handmade knits and hand-knitted dresses and jumpers. We did hand-knitting with cotton, cotton and lurex, and just linen. There were just linen knitted pants and linen tops and cotton jacquards for men. So, there was a lot of emphasis on innovation of knits for both women and men. All the mesh-y things you saw was our emphasis on handmade knits this season. We have also worked with fishnet and cotton. That's what gave it a 3D effect.
In terms of silhouettes, there were bodycon silhouettes. That is something Shivan & Narresh is known for, being very close to the body. There was sensual line work of bikinis and swimwear. The movement of the lines on the body were organic.
What were the new prints you played around with?
The different experiences on this holiday inspired five different prints. They were very distinct experiences, which was why the prints looked distinct. The Aurorays had waves going across. It was inspired by Northern Lights and is something everyone goes to Finland or the Scandinavian countries for. We were lucky that the first night we landed, we walked out of our hotel and the Northern Lights were in our face. It is a rare phenomenon. From that moment onwards, this trip was such an incredible experience. When I came back, I wanted to do a print inspired by the Northern Lights.
They have always been about psychedelia but I wanted to simplify it. For me, some of the most brilliant designs are always simplified. Then you make it understandable for anyone. So, for me, this is the most simplistic way to communicate. Light travels in electromagnetic waves. So, that is why the wave pattern. I picked three colours. There was an electric blue, green and a beautiful yellow. Then the representation was done in classical acrylic on canvas as a medium. You saw brushstrokes in a wave pattern.
‘Leviland’ was another print in the collection. Levi is one of the most famous ski towns of Finland. We took a chopper ride over the ski town. This print is represented as an aerial view of the ski town. I have played with a lot of textured white on canvas.
The ‘Saun’ print was inspired by the sauna. I worked with a French illustrator and sent him photographs from the sauna. The print is just illustrations of men and women in a sauna. Hence the colour palette is very Scandinavian, with pastels. For them (the Finnish), a sauna is everything. Every house has a sauna and it is so central to their culture. Understand the philosophy of sauna. When you are at your barest possible, you are always the truest version of yourself. Everything is left behind and you go into that room being hundred per cent authentic. This philosophy is what stuck with me.
This collection took a year to come out. After I went to Finland, I went to a couple of more countries, but this did not leave me. It is also so central to how we think as a brand. You don’t do it for anybody else. If you don’t love yourself in the mirror, you don’t walk out.... That’s why Athiya’s (Shetty) outfit too had this sense of tranquility and it was very pure. It was made of Italian jersey and draped like 80g silk. Rana Daggubati’s was a layered look. He said he loved layers. He was wearing a pair of Aurorays trousers in the same silhouette. On top, he was wearing a zipped shirt and an organza shacket.
You also had the elephant motif through the collection...
The collection packed in a range of holiday essentials
We keep using the iconograms and they are all symbols of being on various holidays. We call the elephant the ‘Saf’ because it represents the safari. You saw a lot of it in the white section. Essentially, when we do a holiday presentation, the idea is we are trying to make clothes for all kinds of holidays. You will see swimwear and silhouettes you can carry to a safari destination. You will see some jackets and quilted things that you can take to a winter destination and you will see gowns and short dresses which you can carry for a glamorous cruise.
The accessories were so cool!
You saw our iconic bag Olly in different colours and two different sizes, with slings and also the models holding it in their hands. Apart from that we came up with three different shapes this time, like the boomerang bag, a discus bag which was fully round and then we had the messenger bags.
The set design at the show recreated a sauna that’s signature Finland
In terms of accessories for the head, some looks had visors, an absolute holiday essential. You saw a lot of different hats also. All these are new things in the collection now.
Our Saf and peacock earrings are very famous. Then we had the snail, which were with pave setting diamond crystals. Our Aulerth jewellery (a collaboration between eco-jewellery brand Aulerth and Shivan & Narresh) was there in the forms of chains and necklaces. There was either a resort rug or a towel in the hand. The resort rug is very versatile. You can use it for yoga or to lay on the beach or simply put it on a rock for a picnic.
