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Hats Off To India’s Little Shilpa

April 1, 2009 1:43 pm

Consumers might be hard-pressed to buy ready-to-wear at full price these days, but savvy fashion accessories designers who offer unique products at reasonable prices could be poised to profit. Take Little Shilpa: Touted as India’s answer to Philip Treacy, the label’s designer, Shilpa Chavan, unveiled a World War II-inspired tour de force at Lakmé fashion week. The show had a similar energy to Alexander McQueen’s hardcore lesson in fashion history, as fantastical headpieces featuring electronically powered propellers and surreal assemblages of Indian air force hats were juxtaposed with antique sari epaulets and vintage silver jewelry. Chavan’s designs, sold at My Sugarland in London and Villa Moda’s Middle East outposts, run between about $110 and $600, and they manage to convey the fraught global moment as well as India’s complicated relationship to its colonial history. Heavy stuff, but luckily they also work as pure fashion fantasy, something we could all do with a dose of right about now.

—Sameer Reddy

Photo: Courtesy of Lakme Fashion Week

tags: Lakme Fashion Week, Little Shilpa, Philip Treacy