Small town designer impresses at first-ever show

Mumbai, March 12 (IANS) From a small town in Orissa to one of the biggest fashion events of the country, young designer Manas Dash created a stir at his first-ever show at the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) with a collection inspired by the Pattachitra paintings and his childhood memories.

'The starting point of the collection is based on a small incident from my own past memories,' Manas told IANS.

'I am from a very conservative family and place and when I was 13, I started liking western music. But it was a taboo to listen to that in my place and I was stopped by everyone,' he said.

'The faces of all the characters from that incident are the inspiration for my collection, which I have expressed through the Pattachitra painting-inspired clothes,' he added.

The collection is called 'Modern Tribe' and used fabrics like pure silk, cotton silk, raw silk, poplin, satin, lycra, and shiny reczin.

Working around the Pattachitra paintings of Orissa, which is an ancient and popular form of art inspired from Indian mythology, the designer from Sambalpur used them for very edgy modern silhouettes with dramatic shoulder interest.

Opening the show with a rigid constructed dress, Manas moved to a frilled and layered top and then onto a 3D animal patch work embroidered blouse. Leggings had the digital print and so did the waistcoats to create a matching combo.

The final creation designed from tyres, machine parts and animal painting had rigid cottage-like shapes on the skirt sides.

Adding on motifs of animals, fish or trees in applique form, the collection was a great achievement for Manas because of its very striking ramp appeal and emphasis on craft.

The collection is priced between Rs.1,299 and Rs.7,999. It also contained bags made of digital prints and even hand painting, priced between Rs.1,299 and Rs.4,999.

Manas is a NIFT graduate and is based out of Bhubaneshwar now.

'I have done my fashion designing from NIFT, Gandhi Nagar. Then I went to Milan to do my masters in Fashion Design and after coming back from there, I worked with Manish Arora for a year in 2008,' the designer informed.

'Then I went back to Orissa and started my own thing,' she added.

'I'm originally from Sambalpur, which is a very small place, but now I'm living in Bhubaneshwar. This is the first time that I'm showcasing a collection in a fashion show. I haven't started retailing yet, but I'm looking at building clients now,' he added.