STYLE v/s FASHION
11 Nov, 2022
Style is very personal. It has nothing to do with fashion.
Fashion is over quickly. Style is forever.“ the iconic words of Ralph Lauren opens up the avenue to one of the greatest global discussions of all time.
And were stepping into this very debate of fashion v/s style with two cents of our experience and ideas. Going back to a conversation I had with a friend few years ago, I remember how we disagreed on our perspectives of fashion and style. While my friend equated both, I found them to be unique in their own identities- learning in the process how this is a common subject capable of a deep controversial aspect.
So, while were probing the pathway of this universally relevant discussion, I would like to begin by individualising the two, also I am looking for all of your thought on the same.
For us, fashion has always been the fancier umbrella while style would stand for something very personal. While fashion would take us through flipping pages of magazines, style would have home in our very own wardrobe!
We might find ourselves walking on the map beyond geography while talking about fashion! From seasonal clothing lines to designs passing the test of time; from dynamic changes to forecasting trends, fashion is like that all-encompassing macrocosm existing along us, all around us.
However, we decided to look around us, in regular life. What we stumbled upon was splendid moments of style, reaching far and beyond the usual fashion constructed by the society.
We found style in that fish-sellers hair bun, carelessly wrapped in a fresh mogra gajra. We found style every time our mother would dry her hair with that gamcha after a fresh shower- putting dots of sindoor on her sankha-pola, along with that bindi on her forehead. Style traced our footsteps from bootcut jeans of college to that crisp shirt on the first day of job.While fashion kept changing over years, style became a part of our identity over years.
From treasuring that last shirt from school to the first saree of Saraswati-pujo, style goes beyond moments, finding home in our memories, and thus, in our hearts, forever.
This very conversation of style brought to us, our beloved handlooms. The fabrics that have paved the way from India's freedom struggle to the future of the country's thriving art of hand-weaving. We found historical personalities whose style influenced generation. From the bandi made famous as Nehru Coat to the Bomkais worn by Smt. Indira Gandhi, these are testaments of style that have gone down in history, beyond waves of fashion
Today, when we see people from all walks of life, generations, ages giving handloom its own identity through their individual styles, our heart feels full, celebrating fashion beyond time. It is, thus, with a heart full of pride, when we say today, handloom lets you make your own style.
Fashion always comes back in circle, where style remains.
