Anjali's wedding dress
Anjali is a dear dear friend who had the perfect lovestory wedding. She spent the lockdown falling in love with Sagar and they got married in October 2020.
She asked me to design clothes for them for their wedding day because she said, "For me it was about supporting something that I believe in. Doing my tiny bit for a cause that I truly believe in and supporting a brother/friend in his efforts"
Anjali and Sagar had two ceremonies. One Malayali wedding with a priest in which she had to wear a traditional white and gold saree and he had to wear a white and gold veshti.
The other ceremony was a court signing for which Anjali was very keen to look and feel like herself. She was quite clear that she wanted to wear pants and that it had to be an outfit she could re wear many times.
We chose a bias top, naturally dyed in a soft blush pink with tender coconuts and statement pants in a fresh marigold hue.
"I felt so happy and shiny and swishy" is how Anjali describes it.
Working remotely while designing this piece was a bit of challenge just because we wanted to get the colours right. We tried many different eco prints and colour options.
All of Anjali’s pieces were crafted from handwoven bamboo and recycled cotton yarns.
For Sagar, we decided to go with an undyed shirt with coconut shell buttons. Something classic that he could re-wear even after the wedding.
Sagar, like Anjali was quite trusting in our process. He was initially focussed on just getting a simple outfit that would make him feel good on his special day, but the more he interacted with the fabric the more he valued the clothing. When he wore his final piece with all the knowledge of its recycled journey, he was proud of its style lines but also of it’s story. This little shift in perspective that comes with a respect for the way we create, it makes what we do worthwhile.
"Why choose white when you can have a stunning yellow?!"
Anjali's first instinct was to not choose a traditional "virgin" white outfit. She was very keen to explore colours which we were very happy to customize for her with the help of our good friends Adiv Pure Nature
The colours we decided to go with were a soft pink obtained from tender coconut husks and a vibrant yellow from marigolds and onion skins.
"Those beautiful flowers in the fabric of the top just made me so happy. I think its because I'm partial to marigolds. I'm also not a typical bride so white just didn't sit right with me. I needed something happier."
"Working with re- was a walk in the park. Deciding the styles was quite effortless for both Sagar and me because Ateev just gets our aesthetic. He suggested a few styles from which we quite easily narrowed it down. He showed us fabric options and we picked from those, one meeting for measurements, one trial and hand delivered, hand wrapped with a note of love and support. What more could you want?
And the best part of this is that we can reuse our outfits!!!! I can can feel happy and shiny and swishy many more times." - Anjali
