Bags that brighten up ensembles

Bags that brighten up ensembles


A shiny little thing that kept gleaming in one corner of a stall until we picked it up and realised it is a beautiful crystal-studded belt that can make a hole in one’s pocket by a good Rs 24,000. But this belt at designer Radhika Gupta’s stall was just the tip of an iceberg. Be it bags made from rabbit and Australian lamb skin, high-heeled sandals crafted using lizard skin or the use of ghungrus in shoes, just about everything at the recently-concluded Wills India Fashion Week made a statement.

If exotic animal leather is your weakness, then handbags by Chennai-based designer Shahrukh Zaidi’s Studio SRZ could just be your thing. His work embodies clean lines that speak of Brazilian cow-ons in leopard, cheetah and other exotic prints, well-structured croc-prints in vintage tones, lamb-skin bags in earthly tones and European cow suede in vibrant colours. “Many bags have also been made using springbok leather — a South African animal — that has a huge demand in the meat industry there. Then there were bags made from New Zealand, Pakistani and Australian lamb skins. One can dye these skins into different shades for an exotic and high-end look,” Zaidi said, pointing at some of the coloured bags. The prices of these handbags start from Rs 8,000 and go up to Rs 18,000. The label also has a collection of bags, wallets and briefcases for men which can cost anywhere between Rs 6,000 and Rs 30,000.

There isn’t a scarcity of variety for those either who don’t want to spend much on bags. With organic jute and cotton bags, the brand, The Jute Shop, promises a low-priced and eco-friendly experience to the climate-conscious consumers. While some jute bags have wacky chappals printed on them, others some come with serious messages like Save The Earth written on them. And guess what, they start from a mere Rs 40 and go up to Rs 250. The cotton ones were more casual and range between Rs 100 and Rs 500. Although the brand retails only from Kolkata, its director Sudip Sen says they are Net savvy and one can place online orders by logging on to their website.

Meanwhile, Radhika Gupta has stuck to her signature style of bright, colourful bags with an addition of ghungrus for “that bling look.”

“I’ve used ghungrus in different shapes and concepts this time as people love to have a bling effect in their accessories. The colours, however, remain same because that’s what the brand is known for,” she said. Her creativity has also taken beautiful forms in jootis and belts too. While bags were priced between Rs 2,000 and Rs 10,000, jootis cost anywhere between Rs 3,500 and Rs 5,000.

The event was also abuzz with a few jewellery designers as well but most, with mundane gold and diamond pieces, failed to make an impact. Nonetheless, a breather came from Amrapali, who, by blending both gold and silver, produced an array of innovative neck-pieces, earrings and rings.

According to Suman Khanna, spokesperson of the brand, jewellery is about accentuating clothes and not just complimenting them anymore. She said, “Jewellery is no longer just a piece of metal you wear on your body to match your clothes. A right jewellery piece can define your personality and sometimes even overtakes the clothes one wears. So we have tried to play around with colours of different metals this time. All the pastel stones are gone and you have ones with deep, dark shades like black onyx and turquoise blue making a statement.”

For those with a shoe fetish, Jakaal by Samir Singh offered shoes made of lizard leather and water snakes. “We have also used exotic calf leather and treated it to look like crocodile leather,” Singh said. The collection was priced between Rs 20,000 and Rs 30,000.