Celebrating Onam with threads, tassels and tailor-mades

CHENNAI: Fashion designer Rehana Basheer has launched her latest collection ‘Kaliyattam’, a special series curated for Onam. The collection, made by 150 karigars in the city, aims to give a twist to traditional Onam attire.

Speaking to DT Next about the collection Rehana says, “The reason I named this collection ‘Kaliyattam’ is that the collection is so vast and playful.The collection has something to offer for all age groups. For children, we have mundu and settu mundu. While for men we have a unique collection of mundu and veshti.

“For women, we have retained the look of the traditional Onam saree, or kasuvu, while adding extra elements like silhouettes, different border patterns and a variety of blends in terms of fabric, like mulmul, cotton and voyal. I wanted to ensure that the fabric is very free-flowing.”

She says that the curation of the collection began a month ago and she started experimenting with different fabrics. The collection also has sarees in silk and pashmina fabrics. “For this collection, we had to brush up on our history. After studying and researching the different styles that the royals draped their saree, we decided to design sarees that are versatile and can adapt to different draping styles.”

The collection is on display at their store, Rehana Basheer in Harrington road and is also available for purchase online via their Instagram page. The price range for the collection begins from Rs 2,500.