She has been dressed by over 10 top fashion names... After Hrs decodes the designers' inspiration.
Is the ‘being a fashion muse’ merely a marketing trump card. The word muse in fashion is often referred to as that one powerful figure who inspires and propells the designer’s aesthetic sensibility. Think Audrey Hepburn for Givenchy, Jackie Kennedy for Valentino or more recently hottie Baptiste Giabiconi for Karl Lagerfeld. It’s intriguing how from Claudia Schiffer to Lily Cole Monsieur Lagerfeld has had more than 30 muses. However, one wonders if the muse actually inspires a collection or is it just a designer’s gimmick to get the girl-of-the-moment to sell clothes? No one wears designs like Sonam Kapoor. The fashionista is known for her style. She is versatile never repeats a look. She wears a leading international designer just as well as she dons a budding one... Here’s what experts have to say...
Red Carpet: The new calling card
Fashion critic Asmita Aggarwal says, “Ten years ago, supermodels like Arjun Rampal, Mehr Jessia, Sheetal Mallar ruled the catwalk and they graduated to becoming muses. Now with the fashion industry growing and evolving, muses have become almost redundant. ‘Inspirations’ are now de rigueur and the new catchphrase with designers moving on to Tanzania, South Africa and Masai Mara for creative inputs. Red carpet is now the calling card; with young designers without any thought hoping to dress Bollywood starlets, who may or may not embody the spirit of the label. Sonam Kapoor has been dressed by almost 10 designers. She is the new ‘muse’ for many, so she kind of gets lost in the crowd of those scrambling to dress her for photo ops.”
Muse: A style marriage made in heaven
Designer Nachiket Barve says, “For me everything in fashion is contextual. At the outset, it’s a blank canvas and then I narrow it down to my aesthetic. A muse is someone who helps the clothes being worn in an undiluted format. A muse could be fictional like Viola in Shakespeare In Love or a celebrity. She’s someone who’s part of curating the collection internally for me.”
Muse has to be cohesive
Designer Shruti Sancheti says, “You always have an image in mind of a woman who’ll appreciate and complement your clothes. You design for a particular kind of woman. I do agree it is a marketing gimmick to an extent. It’s very easy to get a celeb to get attention regardless of the fact that he or she even fits into the aesthetic. For instance I design for a woman who identifies with weaves. I think a designer’s sensibility and the choice of muse has to be cohesive. I won’t dare to call Vidya Balan my muse but I always kept an image like her in mind while designing.”
Muse can’t change every month
Designer Dhruv Kapur of label Drvv says, “I don’t usually keep a person in mind while designing. I test that if I’d be comfortable wearing the garment. People tend to have one or many muses throughout their lives. However, I feel you can’t have a muse every month. Your design may change every month but not the muse.”
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