The valley of Kashmir has been a muse to many. Poets, writers, artists, photographers and film makers have taken inspiration from the natural phenomenons of the valley.
Designers are a group of professionals whose job requires them to be inspired all the time. And what better inspiration than Kashmir?
Below is a list of famed designers who traced the patterns of the valley on fabric and grabbed consumer attention, as well critical acclaim for it.
Gulaala Aur Giltoor by Manish Malhotra
Manish Malhotra, a Mumbai based designer, who is considered as one of the best designers in Bollywood, started his career as a model. Malhotra made his debut in Bollywood by designing the wardrobe for Juhi Chawla in the movie “Swarg”.
His work has been honoured with various awards like Filmfare Award for Costume Design for the movie Rangeela , Hindustan Times for Most Stylish – Delhi Season 6 in 2016, Pratham, USA for Excellence in fashion in 2016 and many more..
His visit to the valley for the movie Rockstar was the inspiration for his next line of collection. He showcased his Kashmir inspiration in his collection titled Gulaala Aur Giltoor. The collection was inspired by flowers of Achabal Garden.
The collection had the usual Manish Malhotra silhouettes in net and chiffon perfectly blended with Kashmiri embroidery.
Gulbagh by Rohit Bal
Rohit Bal, a Kashmiri by origin is a Delhi based designer who draws his inspiration from his birthplace. His work reflects his love for the valley and is best known for the use of lotus and peacock motifs. He makes the best use of pastels and earthy tones. Rohit was named by Times magazine as the “Master of Fabric and Fantasy”.
His line of collection titled Gulbagh, was inspired by the rich and lush Mughal gardens and had the blend of traditional needle and Tilla work of Kashmir.
The collection was designer’s tribute to the beauty of the valley and was showcased at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week.
Naseem Bagh by Sonam and Paras Modi
Sonam and Paras Modi launched there brand SVA in 2009 and the duo believe in intricate detailing, appliqués, elaborate handcrafting making the best design. There range of collection is known for its outstanding craftsmanship.
The duo got inspired during their visit to the Kashmir valley.
They named one of their collections as Naseem Bagh, the inspiration for which was the Chinar leaves. The collection had elements and motifs from the Kashmir Valley. Even the Himalayan songbird Bulbul made it to the collection.
CharBagh by Good Earth
Every year Good Earth, a luxury brand, creates a design collection that tells the story of a particular tradition or culture. This year Kashmir was their inspiration. Their recent launch Van Vaibhav, The Splendour of Forest collection drew its design inspiration from the beauty of Kashmir.
CharBagh, a line under the same collection used Mughal garden blossoms and recreated the beauty of a Persian garden in bloom with floral leitmotifs of poppies, cypress trees, roses and garden flowers.
Whispers from the Valley by Zoya
Zoya, a product of Tata has designed its entire collection of jewelry on the seasons on Kashmir this year. The line of collection has three seasons: Spring, autumn and winter.
The collection showcased the beauty of valley using Chinar leaves from autumn, blooms from spring and frozen pine trees and snowflakes from winter.
