Going back to the bazaars

Rina Dhaka is a busy woman indeed. The designer has been juggling between working on her collection for the upcoming couture weeks and sweating it out, walking the lanes of Indian bazaars discovering indigenous arts and artisans whose skills rarely get the exposure they rightly and truly deserve. Shooting for her fashion-related travel show — Style And the City has taken Rina to the smaller cities of Pushkar, Lucknow, Ajmer, Amritsar and Benaras to explore their culture, heritage and lifestyle. “I agreed to do the show only because I liked the concept and it ensured that I was away for work  for 20 long days. I have always aspired to do a show that puts fashion back in the spotlight and this one was perfect as it also brings travel on the same platform,” says Rina, adding, “Somewhere we forget that the credit us designers get for our work also involves many others. It’s just a bit of us and more of the faceless others and this show brings those people to the forefront.”From travelling in rickshaws to sampling the local cuisine of a city, Rina sees inspiration in everything. “I always do extensive research for my collections. I travel, explore local markets, meet weavers, visit historic places, try out local cuisines and try to bring the flavour of a state in my collection. But this time I was travelling for a show, so I had limited time and a lot to explore. Though I work with artisans in Lucknow regularly, being a part of this show has helped me discover a lot more about the city. I am planning to do another collection inspired by Lucknow. I have been downloading my own pieces for the same,” shares Rina, who also wants to go back to Chandini Chowk, Benaras and Jodhpur. As a designer, Rina feels her job is to translate her real life experiences into her work. “While travelling to all these bazaars, I realised that there is so much to learn from every single one of them. Every bazaar has so much to offer and yet is so different from the other. And not just the bazaars, even the monuments, the very cultures of the places are such a source of inspiration that when you look at them, you are haunted by the question, “Why am I so jaded?”, propounds Rina.  Talking of memorable experiences, Rina, who has never been to Pushkar before, reveals that she just fell in love with the city when she visited it while shooting for the show. “I was surprised by the rich culture of the place. A lot of people there (Kalbeliyas) speak fluent German, Dutch and French. They wear traditional outfits. I saw their dances, I visited the monuments too. The people were warm and friendly. Pushkar as a city is very informative and inspiring. In fact, I plan to go back there later in the year during winter,” she says Catch Style And the City, on Wednesdays and Thursdays, 10pm, on FOX Traveller