Chennai designers on a new ramp-age
The Madras Boat Club was recently the place to be for the fashionistas in the city as the up-and-coming bespoke label Fibin & Imaad launched their collection ‘Impression Le Maroc’. The Adyar River by the boat club was beautifully lit for the evening. Fibin and Imaad executed a one-of-a-kind fashion show by making the river their ramp. The rowers of the Madras Boat Club rowed mannequins dressed in Moroccan-inspired outfits across 250 meters.
Fibin explains that one of the reasons he chose the river as his stage was because he is inspired by sports and water sports like rowing, sailing and surfing is picking up in the city. “While the launch of the collection is inspired by sports, the collection itself is inspired by Moroccan architecture — the shape of domes and the tiles in the gowns,” said Fibin.
Their collection combines the old and the new — Moroccan cuts with industrial lines, and is very avant-garde. Fibin says, “Our aim was to show the city’s fashion-conscious crowd that we can come up with collections that are red carpet worthy and fit the wearer like a glove. They can also be simplified, if need be.”
Ace photographer G. Venket Ram worked with Fibin and Imaad for a photo shoot at the Old Binny Mills) to make the designs stand out. “The colours and inspiration from the collection was what made me chose such a background. We finished about six looks that day as we knew what we wanted,” said Venket whose favourite shot is of the partly dome-shaped gown. “I could play a lot with light — it was shot as a crisscross of sunlight fell on the model and the rustic background worked wonders for the photograph,” concludes Venket.