Summer Wine

It’s already warm everywhere else in India, even in the north winter is letting go and clothes are getting lighter in anticipation of the long hot months to come. For a fashionista, the options are ever-widening, so Outlook quizzed fashion designers on the look they’ve planned for summer ’05.

What they had to say is clear: The look for spring/summer '05 is a mix of bohemian-feminine-retro typified by flowing silhouettes. This embraces styles like gypsy skirts in floral prints and bell sleeves. It's not hugely different from the look that became popular through last year—at first glance. This year what's really new is more a matter of detail than grand concept.

From these trends, it emerges that the most definite parameter designers have kept in mind for the coming season is an eye for comfort and movement. Be it the choice of fabric like linen, voluminous silhouettes-like ponchos/kaftans or even knits, the preferred sartorial sensibility is definitely airy. That's only natural, given that they have to think of fabrics, cuts and colours that work in the sun as well as in air-conditioned interiors. It's also perhaps a reason why the skirt and the kurti continue to woo the fashionistas.

Of course these are the general trends, but how do they differ from what designers have to say before every summer? A lot of trends predicted this year stand in a continuum from last year.

The silhouette (or the cut of the garment) predicted is fluid, barely skimming the body contours. "Unlike last year, this season we'll get to see garments that have expansive hemlines and loose fits," says Calcutta-based designer Kiran Uttam Ghosh.

Narendra Kumar Ahmed, a Mumbai-based designer, agrees with Ghosh and adds, "Silhouettes will be a mix of volumes. For example, a flowy top with a skinny trouser or a pencil skirt or a fitting top with baggy trousers." But this season's favourites are kurtis again (their third successful summer run), followed by ponchos and kaftan tops. The credit for popularising the kaftan goes to designer Ranna Gill, who unleashed it with much fanfare at last year's Lakme India Fashion Week. In fact, Gill adds that the season might witness a slightly longer kurti; one that's been extended to near knee-length, long enough that it might as well be called a kurta.

"There will be lots of kurta dresses embellished with beads and sequins," says Gill. She is also excited about a new silhouette—that of the bermuda pant. She expects it might grow big this season. Already, pop star-glam doll Jennifer Lopez is flaunting this garment in her latest music video Get Right.

But if you ask Ahmed, he would rather have you throw the kurti out of the window. "Chuck the kurti, be more flirty, try camisoles or some nice off-shoulder tops," he advises to anyone who wants the right mix of style and comfort in the summer months.

Meanwhile, for men, linen is the fashion language. Again, a leftover from last summer. "Definitely keep a few pairs of linen pants in your cupboard this summer," suggests Bangalore-based designer Manoviraj Khosla. Single-button and single-breasted linen jackets would also add to your style quotient, suggests Khosla, who sells from his own store in the Leela hotel in Bangalore and from the Khazana chain at the Taj hotels.

Layering as a style will also send the mercury soaring up. Benetton's summer collection, currently in stores all over the country, has a number of tees in contrasting colours like hot pink and cobalt blue, fruity greens and orange that can be teamed together for a nice sporty-casual look. Some of their more formal shirts for women have cameo sleeves, where one sleeve is stitched under another to create a layered look.

Bollywood will leave its stamp on male closets as body-hugging, v-neck knit tops, a la Shahrukh Khan and John Abraham, fill up store shelves. A note of warning: The garment works best on a clean-shaven chest. You'd most certainly be wearing them at your sartorial peril if you're into the pre-Musafir Anil Kapoor look.

In the skirtscape, the gypsy skirt is joined by the miniskirt, but this time around, with panels and pleats.If you have been watching Deepal Shaw in Baby Doll, you will know what we are talking about. If you don't, step into the nearest Be: store. The spring-summer collection has a cornucopia of skirts—gypsy, circular ones that could be gathered, panelled/pleated, miniskirts and even pencil skirts.

The ethnic wear section has no surprises. "Churidars will be more like dogris (tight around the leg and roomy above) and patiala-salwars with short kameez will still be in demand," says Calcutta-based designer Pali Sachdeva of the Monapali label. She also is experimenting with teaming phirans (a long flowy kurta with embroidery around the neck, the traditional dress of Kashmir), hitherto alien to the Indian fashionscape, with slim cotton-lycra trousers.

Style is incomplete without accessories. And designers predict a heavy emphasis on accessories this season. "One will see less ornamentation on clothes: that would be balanced by a lot of accessories like bags and jewellery,'' says accessory designer Priya Kakar Kapur. Accessories will have handcrafted details like macrame (a handwork technique in which the thread is knotted to create interesting effects) and crochet. According to Ghosh, a macrame bag or belt seems to be a must-have this season. "And if it has a sprinkling of beads or shells, your bag can be quite a head-turner at any party," promises Kapur.

Across Indian metros, most boutiques and stores selling ready-to-wear designer creations already have several of the summer '05 collections on their shelves, with more variations on the basic theme still to come.

It's time to start shopping.