National award-winning costume designer Neeta Lulla celebrated her journey through couture in collaboration with Vivz School of Fashion and Design in Pune recently.
The exclusive fashion showcase saw Neeta Lulla take a deep dive into her archives to present a carousel of contemporary styles embracing heritage. From opulent lehengas, sarees, sculpted gowns in women’s wear, to traditional sherwanis to dapper suits in menswear, the collection was realised in an array of colours.
Actor Vaani Kapoor closed the show in an all-black butter jersey cutout dress enhanced with tonal surface texturing. Neeta Lulla speaks to News18 about creating a story from fabric to character and what aspiring costume designers need to keep in mind before taking up the profession.
Costume designing has been one of your strongest suits. Do you still enjoy the storytelling process of a costume from fabric to character?
Absolutely. I mean, that is something that I have done for so many years, and it feels like second skin. I do enjoy costume designing for films and for bridal wear because I started as a couturier who sat with the bride, understood the entire mindset back in the 1980s. I also came up with many firsts, right from where brides only wore red to bringing in the shocking pink to brides who only wore one dupatta to bringing in two and three-dupatta concepts.
So it has always been about how I can bring about a narrative to a film that could create a newness apart from consciously wanting just to make a trend. But how to create that character narrative that would make the movie strong, or would make the person who is dressing really, really comfortable in what they are wearing and enjoy their occasions and their events.
Tell us about the collection you showcased in Pune and how it resonates with your fashion journey.
For the past many years in my journey, there have been many firsts. So I went into my archives and brought them back to life with the newness and with a mindset that would adhere to the Gen Z clientele or the millennial clients.
I have revived the concept of lace in this collection. I have revived the concept of contemporising Kanjivaram sarees. Also, creating couture out of sustainable fabrics is what I have included in the collection.
A word of advice for aspiring costume designers who want to take up the profession?
Most importantly, I think it’s essential that you have a foundation – a very firm foundation of education in your field, because that takes you very far. With education, you can create identities that will not restrict you since you will know your cuts, your styling, the kind of colours and fabrics you want to use. So it is very essential that you have that knowledge.
And it’s important to have a vision. A vision that is not constrictive to what you see on social media, but a vision that allows you to fly, allows you to dream on. So dream big, vision big, I mean passion, everyone says passion, but it’s not only about passion, it’s about you. It’s about how far you want to go.
Which film are you working on next?
I’ve just finished working on Ustaad Bhagat Singh with Mr. Pawan Kalyan, the Deputy CM of Andhra Pradesh.
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