An olympian leap of faith
As he plunges into the world of the biggest sporting stage, the Olympics, designer Suket Dhir’s latest collection, Leap, stays true to his surrealist roots.
Published: 07th February 2021
By Medha Dutta Yadav
Express News Service
Eclectic is the word that comes to mind when you think of designer Suket Dhir. He, of the whimsical colour palette, the zany bomber jackets and the unique dhoti-bandhgala combo (created for Nobel laureate Abhijit Banerjee). Keeping true to his oeuvre, Dhir’s latest collection—showcased at Ogaan—is as evocative as ever. Where earlier, he drew from Mughal and Pahadi miniatures to come up with a line that had rajas playing golf and ranis taking selfies, the present collection, Leap, is an ode to the Olympics—the games, the city of Gods, the players, the spectators, et al. “The concept of this collection is ‘forever young’ and named Leap, it’s like leaping into a new year, after a kind of a blip of a year,” laughs Dhir.
Versatile and effortless, the collection is inspired by comic prints. So, you have the trademark bomber jacket with swimmers and divers. There are the javelin throwers, cyclists, discus throwers. Not to mention, sumo wrestlers and gymnasts. There is a surreal mish-mash as all jostle for space on the canvas that Dhir creates. While the outer side filled with this vibrant graffiti-of-sorts catches your eye, turn the lapel and you find the quintessential Dhir stamp—the lining is equally attractive, making it possible to wear the bomber jacket inside out. While this theme runs through almost all his collection—even the earlier ones have a brighter lining letting the wearer own a secretive world from the inside—it’s only the bomber jackets that are reversible.
Suket Dhir
Going through his recent collections—especially those inspired by Mughal and Pahadi miniatures and now Leap—one can almost notice a thread of surrealism connecting them. It’s like looking at a Salvadore Dali canvas, but maybe not that macabre. Dhir doesn’t deny it. Highly influenced by surrealism, he counts among his major influences Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte and his most famous work, the Son of Man, which makes its own presence felt in every creation in a completely metamorphosed avatar.
Celebrated for his ability to put together a vast palette of colours, it was not very long ago that Dhir was more at home with muted shades—think indigo, blues and greys. “I thought putting too much colour together would not work. But look at the collection now. I’m confident that I can put in almost everything and still make it look great,” he says with a tinge of pride.
Immensely influenced by the impeccable style of his grandfather—from whom he inherited some heirloom jackets—it was natural for him to be drawn exclusively to men’s fashion. Women’s fashion was not on the agenda and came much later. Even his line for women is uncharacteristically named, He for She—clothes for women with a distinct masculine silhouette.
“My wife would keep stealing clothes out of my wardrobe. Finally, one day I just woke up and thought let me design a collection for her, and so the collection for women came about,” says the designer, who believes that clothes should be designed in a way so as to transform a person according to their mood. “It’s the wearer who should define how the garment looks,” says Dhir, who pushes for slow fashion and owning the timeless look.
This International Woolmark Prize-winner, who developed a supple and breathable wool ikat fabric with the help of weavers in Telangana and West Bengal, believes that every fashion era—good, bad, ugly—leaves behind its own imprint and learnings. “I would not want the 80s fashion scene to return. But then again, I don’t want to wish that away either. After all, had that not happened, what would you laugh at? What would you know not to do?” Indeed.
Going through his recent collections—especially those inspired by Mughal and Pahadi miniatures and now Leap—one can almost notice a thread of surrealism connecting them. It’s like looking at a Salvadore Dali canvas, but maybe not that macabre. Dhir doesn’t deny it. Highly influenced by surrealism, he counts among his major influences Belgian surrealist painter René Magritte and his most famous work, the Son of Man, which makes its own presence felt in every creation in a completely metamorphosed avatar.
Celebrated for his ability to put together a vast palette of colours, it was not very long ago that Dhir was more at home with muted shades—think indigo, blues and greys. “I thought putting too much colour together would not work. But look at the collection now. I’m confident that I can put in almost everything and still make it look great,” he says with a tinge of pride.
Immensely influenced by the impeccable style of his grandfather—from whom he inherited some heirloom jackets—it was natural for him to be drawn exclusively to men’s fashion. Women’s fashion was not on the agenda and came much later. Even his line for women is uncharacteristically named, He for She—clothes for women with a distinct masculine silhouette.
“My wife would keep stealing clothes out of my wardrobe. Finally, one day I just woke up and thought let me design a collection for her, and so the collection for women came about,” says the designer, who believes that clothes should be designed in a way so as to transform a person according to their mood. “It’s the wearer who should define how the garment looks,” says Dhir, who pushes for slow fashion and owning the timeless look.
This International Woolmark Prize-winner, who developed a supple and breathable wool ikat fabric with the help of weavers in Telangana and West Bengal, believes that every fashion era—good, bad, ugly—leaves behind its own imprint and learnings. “I would not want the 80s fashion scene to return. But then again, I don’t want to wish that away either. After all, had that not happened, what would you laugh at? What would you know not to do?” Indeed.
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