Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla I Aki
Narula I Arshiya Fakih I
Anuradha Vakil I Anamika
Khanna I Anita Dongre I Anjana
Bhargav I Anshu Arora Sen
I Aparna Jagdhari I Arjun
Khanna I Ashima & Leena Singh
I Ashish Soni I Azeem
Khan I Deepika Govind I
Hemant Trivedi I Jattin
Kochhar I JJ Valaya I Kiran
Uttam Ghosh I Krishna Mehta
I Lalit & Sunita Jalan I Lina
Tipnis I Manish Malhotra
I Manoviraj Khosla I Meera and
Muzaffar Ali I Mona & Pali I Monisha
Bajaj I Monisha Jaising
I Niki Mahajan I Payal
Jain I Poonam Bhagat I Priyadarshini
Rao I Puja Nayyar I Ranna
Gill I Rina Dhaka I Ritu
Beri I Ritu Kumar I Rocky
S I Rohit Bal I Rohit
Gandhi and Rahul Khanna I Shahab
Durazi I Shantanu & Nikhil
I Sangeeta Chopra I Savio
Jon I Tarun Tahiliani I Vandana
Roy I Vijay & Shobna Arora
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Through a decade of detailing and upgrading craft of Lucknow
and Kotwara, Meera & Muzaffar Ali have brought centuries'
old tradition back to life. Both Chikan and Zardozi today
have become contemporary and the label of KOTWARA is internationally
associated with the philosophy of clothes that integrates
aesthetics and humanity, peace and harmony. The wearer of
Kotwara, experiences an inner tranquillity as a contrast to
a highly consumerist outlook. Living Sufism has been able
to establish a hitherto unknown genre of clothing created
amidst nature and music with love and sensitivity.
Their endeavour has been to look at style in the broadest
sense of the concept and create products with a universal
appeal and relevance. By using the sense of fine detailing,
which has evolved in India over the centuries, the range extends
from innovations in Indian and western forms using simple
craft techniques of chikan, zardozi, tukdi and appliqué with
hand detailing to create dramatic effects. The label of Kotwara
has thus acquired a style of its own which is both avant-garde
and traditional and evokes an image which is an interesting
blend of detailing and innovation, modernity and old world
charm. From the traditional Lehnga they have a wide range
of western forms from long coats to shorter jackets, dresses,
skirts and trousers. They are gently quilted, subtly embroidered
and delicately hand finished.
Clothes for Meera and Muzaffar Ali are the epitome of inner
grace, and for that matter they don't have to be expensive.
They are the essence of nostalgia, the fragrance of the present,
and the dream of the future. When Muzaffar sketches clothes
he designs in a trance, made of moments of the past and present,
and projects them as valuables that people would cherish.
To him these clothes are sacred as they enclose the temple
of the human form. *Muzaffar Ali, filmmaker, painter and designer,
draws deep inspiration from Sufi poetry and music. He stepped
into designing through his films and his deep involvement
with his village made craft an ongoing relationship and a
means of providing employment for the rural craftspeople of
Kotwara. Each day in Kotwara they dream to look ahead, create
new feelings, innovate new details. Not only with the craft
but the life of the craftswomen and her children, their education,
outlook and livelihood.
Since 1990, Meera & Muzaffar Ali have held several fashion
shows in Delhi, Mumbai, Kolkata, Bangalore, Madras, Singapore,
Kuwait, London and New York.
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