Escada comes calling

The Germany-based luxury brand brings a collection to India that is both fun and fancy -- true to the vision of its founders but with enough to appeal to Indian sensibilities too.

A name that means nothing in Portuguese. A name that, however, means a lot in luxury. Escada, the Germany-based luxury goods company was, believe it or not, started when the founders of the company, Margaretha and Wolfgang Ley, bet on a horse named Escada (which means "nothing") and thereby hangs a dazzling tale of fashion and luxury. The brand took off well and then had its share of valleys and peaks but is now back at the forefront of an unprecedented luxury boom that the world is witnessing.

Since its inception, the brand has been associated with feminine, flirty styles and the collection that Escada unveiled recently in India shows that it has stayed true to its founders' vision. At the same time, there is no boring sentimentalism. The clothes are as trendy and modern as any.

So if you walk into an Escada store (only in Mumbai and Delhi for now) what should you pick up? It's easy to get carried away and make mistakes by picking up what may not be the best buy for Indian reality.

The first recommendation, then would be a hot pink trenchcoat (Rs 89,999) with tie details at the front belt and at the cuffs. Made of cotton with viscose lining, this is part of

Escada's pre-fall collection and would be  appropriate for this freak semi-cold weather that

Delhi, especially, seems to be in the grip of. And the other weather-related occurrence of not fog, not smog, but a greyish sky begs us to be kilted out in the brightness of the hot pink of the trenchcoat.

Happily for colour-rich Indians, Escada has lots of hot pink clothes in the collection in the stores right now. There is a hot pink argyle cotton, polyester and elastic top (Rs 48,999) with white shirt collar detail and white shirt cuffs on the sleeve. There is  also pink crinkled polyester shirt (Rs 33,999) that can brighten up even the dullest of business suits that one can sometimes be compelled to wear under deep duress.

The fun doesn't end there. A pretty paisley print silk blend shirt dress (Rs 50,999) that can also be teamed with tights/ slacks and or boots can also be added to your shopping cart.

Another dress of note is a cotton (with rayon, viscose lining) black and white strapless number (Rs 49,999) that would suit both a corporate event as well as a nice formal fancy evening dinner party. And the dress can be teamed with pointed white kitten heel sandals (Rs 34,999) with black trimming.

For those forced to work in the corporate jungle, Escada brings nice, new wool jackets. Of the two we picked, one has pink stripes and the other comes with white stitch detail. Both have the potential to mix and match with a variety of accessories to break the tedium of wearing dull colours in the winter.

The current collection also has its share of a classic white shirt and one off-white top with ruffles at the neck and the other comes with elasticised detail at the wrist with overlapping fabric on a full sleeve that gives it a quirkiness that every shirt need display from time to time.

And this winter, if you are hell-bent on making a statement, and are sure that standing out in a room packed with drones is your one true calling, then pick up the coat with an off-white base with a happy splash of flowers that is likely to remind that winter will turn to spring and the bleakness of winter can be forgotten with a happy coat like this. The coat made of new wool, angora wool and cashgora comes with a sticker price of over a Rs 1.5 lakh plus.

If you live in less harsher climes, you might opt for the evening gowns that the brand has to offer. One piece of bad news though, the company is right now all sold out in this category but when the next collection comes to the stores (in about a month), be there early to get an evening gown. The early bird these days gets more than the proverbial worm. Now there is the promise of the season's best for those who come first.