September 20, 2023 |
Returning to the runway with a renewed sense of purpose, Supriya Lele’s first show following a two-seasons hiatus (and first-ever standalone presentation after receiving support from Fashion East and the BFC’s Newgen programme) was a postmodern testament to what it means to live in the multi-cultural zeitgeist of now.
Lele’s work explores, but is not confined by, the realities and fantasies that arise from being a British woman born to Indian immigrant parents. So for her comeback collection, and by investigating her own history, she crafted Indian-inspired drapes with subtly nostalgic punk elements that dissolved into sultry, featherlight slips and barely-there undergarments with the gentle sensibility of an English-girl.
Set in a subterranean car park beneath the brutalism of the Barbican Centre, the quiet hum of the concrete undercroft was interrupted by slinky and sophisticated, aqueous silhouettes. Memories of the saris’ worn by the women in Lele’s family morphed into body-celebrating, draped, twisted silhouettes – sometimes made from Tencel™ Luxe, a botanic, biodegradable Lyocell filament solution. The sari blouse became a vibrant yellow corset, deconstructing its colonial origins. Cropped and contorted utilitarian cotton tanks beckoned toward ordinary Indian life, and separately, a leather jacket and one-off baby blue leather corset bra were created in collaboration with Bentley Motors.
Entering into a darling dance between lush colours, lilacs alluded to a lipstick worn by artist Jai Chuhan at the opening of her exhibition at Qrystal Partners (a vacant pharmacy-turned-experimental art gallery founded by Lele, alongside Donald Ryan and gallerist Parinaz Mogadassi, that opened in May) earlier this year. Iridescent hand-foiled greens were ripped from a random snapshot of a passerby’s eyeshadow while the more earthy tones were indicative of ancient statues, icons and antiques.
Photography courtesy of Supriya Lele.
