street style india. indian kitsch. photography. art. culture
Shot at Rajasthan Heritage Week 2017
Designer- Bibi Russell
Show director-Prasad Bidapa
Photographs by Abhimanyu Singh Rathore
This photo series is dedicated to the hardworking weavers of Rajasthan. Celebrating the rare luxury of Rajasthan handwoven fabrics.
Lisa Hall is the name behind the bespoke quirky label ‘Madame Hall’ whose collection was showcased this year at Lakme Fashion Week. It was her personal instagram account which inspired me to do this photo story. I don’t really adhere the conventional idea of fashion where it changes with seasons as I feel it should be more about self-expression & how you feel rather than what people think. Lisa’s idea of fashion & style is also kind of similar as she’s not into following regular trends but always curious to create what she feels like. Her choice of colors, patterns, prints & materials is truly one of a kind just like her personal story. Lisa is from Sydney, Australia & now she is living in Bhuj from past 5 years as she fell in love with the textiles & embroideries of Kutch. Unlike other western designers who travel to India in search of inspiration & fabrics, Lisa is here to stay.
For this photo story I wanted to shoot in the streets of Bhuj using the old broken doors & rust like backdrops of Aina Mahal which is very close to Lisa’s design studio made a perfect backdrop for shooting her colorful bohemian clothes. Lisa curated & styled each look for this story. She has fabulous eye for details & penchant for traditional gujarati jewels which beautifully blends with her designs. Lisa always happily poses wearing her designs & her instagram account is full of that, visual treat for all boho lovers.
To know more about her label Madame Hall & details about her latest collection visit www.madamehall.com
Photographs & text by Abhimanyu Singh Rathore
Rajasthan Heritage Week
Place-Diggi Palace, Jaipur
Photographs by Abhimanyu Singh Rathore
Day 2 of Rajasthan Heritage Week was all about celebrating creations by the national awardee weavers & artisans. Along with the artisans the show also witnessed collections by veteran designers including Rohit Kamra, Rajneeral, Bangalore based Manish Saksena & Pavithra Muddaya.
I placed myself as ususal at backstage, observing & shooting the collections closely. For Day 2 I wanted to explore the minimalist photography with clean frames focusing on the colors of the creations & mostly with only one or two models in a frame. A big thanks to all the models who were very patient & comfortable with me to create some nice portraits. Also it was interesting to shoot so many female models donning beautiful saris by the weavers of Rajasthan. I personally loved the collection by Rajneeral as it was very edgy & full of prints with quirk. The day ended with the collection by Jaipur’s very own Rohit Kamra who presented his line of contemporary menswear in woollen khadi in well tailored cuts. The silhouette included breeches, sherwanis, bandhgala & achkan.
Photographs by Abhimanyu Singh Rathore
Day 1
Rajasthan Heritage Week
Venue-Diggi Palace, Jaipur
Photographs by Abhimanyu Singh Rathore
After successful first edition of Rajasthan Heritage week the Khadi board & government of Rajasthan in association with Prasad Bidapa Associates announced the second edition of the fashion week. The three day fashion extravaganza celebrated handmade in Rajasthan & included collections from India’s some of the most renowned designers along with 8 national award winning artisans. The shows were choreographed by supermodel Noyonika Chatterjee & ace choreographer Kevin Oliver. Mohan Neelakantan (am a big fan of his work for Elle India) & Anu Jha styled the designer collections. The show included models from all over the country along with India’s original supermodel brigade including Lakshmi Rana, Sonalika Sahay & Deepti Gujral.
Find more photos on my instagram account @abhicolorsmanyu
Photographs by Abhimanyu Singh Rathore
Shot during Bundi Utsav 2016.
Place Bundi, Rajasthan.
Want to live the 60s hippie culture now? Pushkar city of Rajasthan is the right place to re-live the 60s youth movement. From people in dreadlocks to tie-dye T-shirts you will find it all here. Special recommendation to visit the city during Pushkar Fair which generally happens in the month of November(this year the dates are 8th Nov to 15th Nov 2016).
This street Style photo story is about the tourists I captured in candid moments at Pushkar Fair 2015.
Photographs by Abhimanyu Singh Rathore
At the end all I can say is I LOVE PUSHKAR & would love to spend more time in this city whenever I re-visit it.
‘Sakhi’ is an initiative taken by Vedanta Hindustan Zinc regarding women empowerment. They believe when you empower a rural women, socially and economically, she bring prosperity in her family, village and ultimately the entire country and I completely agree with them. Once the rural and tribal women are part of ‘Sakhi’ they are groomed and trained in non-Farm based activities that included tailoring, stitching, tie & dye, meenakari, terracotta, embroidery, artificial jewellery making, etc.
Supermodels like Lakshmi Rana, Sonalika Sahay and Femina Miss India Koyal Rana walked the ramp in creations by rural & tribal women at ‘Sakhi’, presenting a line of ethnic wear. The show was choreographed by ace choreographer Rashmi Virmani and make-up was done by Anu Mehra. Front row witnessed the veteran fashion designers like Anand Bhushan,Jattinn Kochhar, Rajdeep Ranawat and princess Diya Kumari was the cheif guest.
In association with ETV Rajasthan.
Venue- Clerks Amer,Jaipur
Photographs by Abhimanyu Singh Rathore
Know more details about ‘Sakshi’ Campaign on their official blog- http://vedantasakhi.blogspot.in/
