Want some chic Chai?

Former fashion editor for Elle magazine, India, designer Narendra  Kumar debuted at the Lakme India Fashion Week with an eminently wearable, yet chic, collection called Chai by Narendra Kumar.

The collection has been inspired by the recent BPO (business process outsourcing) boom in India, says the designer. Thanks to BPO, a new generation of workers are transported to an image of the Western world created for them but, at the end of the day, they come back to the influence of their Indian homes.

The show began with speakers blaring out a telephone call of a customer calling a call centre to place an order for clothes from a catalogue.

In terms of silhouettes, narrow, slim fits dominated bottoms. The shoulders were cut close. Kumar's evening wear collection had asymmetric hemlines.

The collection was divided into four main colour stories: Rustic autumn with a lot of orange; burnished chestnuts; greens and blues (check out Shivani Sabikhi in the picture).

"The accent of bright, vibrant colours echo of India. I have combined them with the more conservative, cooler colour palettes of America," says Kumar.

Kumar used natural fabrics like chinos, denim and cotton knits apart from leather and georgettes.

The collection was dominated by pants in various styles -- knee-frayed, Y-frayed, light and dark leather pants, jeans and flared cuff pants.

Eighty per cent of the range is priced from Rs 300 to Rs 1,200 and the rest goes up to Rs 3,500.

It will retail at his recently opened flagship stores in Bangalore, Mumbai and Delhi.

Affordably priced and very wearable, Kumar's collection was among the most accessible that the Lakme India Fashion Week has seen in the first two days.

Click on the images below for a bigger picture

Photograph: Jewella C Miranda
Editorial support: Imran Shaikh