Art Deco feels in Indian fashion

The 100-year-old style has inspired design worldwide. Why doesn't it have a big presence in Indian fashion?

- Pooja Singh

Earlier this year, American stylist Law Roach reached out to Delhi designer Rahul Mishra for a custom outfit for singer-actor Ariana Grande to be worn during the promotions of Wicked: Part Two. The ask came with a reference photograph: an Art Deco inspired black dress with silver-grey 3D high-rise buildings engulfing the wearer, presented as part of the Rahul Mishra Paris haute couture show in January.

On 7 November, Grande wore the ballgown-like dress, which reimagined the CGI-generated skyline and architecture of The Wizard of Oz’s Emerald City with metallic threads, sequins and glass beads. The dress is among the few hand-embroidered creations presented in the recent past by designers celebrating Art Deco—an architectural style, defined by sleek design and geometry, that is marking its centennial this year—in all its glory.

Since its introduction at the International Exhibition of Modern Decorative and Industrial Arts in Paris in 1925, Art Deco has been translated worldwide across industrial arts. In India, its strong presence can be found both outside and inside homes—from the cemented railings of Mumbai houses and havelis of Jaipur to the graphic combinations of gemstones and angular silhouettes in jewellery and watches, and in triptych mirrors shaped like petals in old Delhi furniture markets.

There are several research papers and books dedicated to the influence of the style on Indian design, barring fashion. Unlike in the West, if one sifts through the collections of Indian fashion designers over the past decades, not many Deco-inspired examples come into view.