Style

Textual content by Shirin Mehta. Images by Mallika Chandra

Winner of NEXA presents ‘The Highlight’ at FDCI X Lakmé Style Week, Two Level Two Studio by designer Anvita Sharma clearly resonated with NEXA’s core values – Discover, Embrace, Insurgent – in addition to their tag line “Create and Encourage”. Rise up has certainly been the guiding power behind the maverick designer Anvita Sharma’s model, whose raison d’être clearly is to characterize extra than simply style and glamour – the truth is, her philosophy and sensibilities rejoice individuality and gender neutrality. Sharma embraces all that’s past the binary whereas supporting the LGBTQIA+ neighborhood very visibly in her work. “Two Level Two as a model is agender and goals to create a 3rd id which stands for neither of the binaries and but for each”, states the label’s web site. In addition to, the outsized clothes eliminates variations of measurement, form and gender, leading to an inclusivity that few manufacturers within the style sphere are get together to: “As a result of the issues that unite us are higher than our variations”, believes their creator.

The genderless body-inclusive label’s assortment showcased at FDCI X Lakmé Style Week this season, ‘Behind Closed Doorways’, was “an ode to religion, hope, compassion, solidarity, camaraderie and above all love”, tapping into post-pandemic optimism and positivity. Natural textiles created with fibres of rose petals, oranges, lotuses as additionally natural cotton and recycled taffeta mirrored Sharma’s ardour for sustainability. The model has all the time upcycled textile leftovers of their embroideries, an early nod to declaring love for the planet. Eschewing the runway and selecting as a substitute to current the gathering at ‘The Atelier’, created an environment of intimacy the place “it was like watching character actors in a play fairly than fashions,” opined a viewer. A collection of quirky clothes, a floor-length coat with wide-ruched sash, a three-piece swimsuit, a mini blazer gown, a printed pantsuit made a dramatic presentation, suggesting totally different moods that progressed in angle and site from “a bit misplaced to lastly completely satisfied”, thus creating range in a really cohesive manner. A splash of vibrant prints that included a placing indigo face design in addition to daring checks and circles appeared to reference a extra “pop-ish” period, and it was fascinating to find that the graphics had been painted by hand earlier than being translated onto material. Knee-length boots, quirky socks and luggage added to the final feeling of individualism and neutrality.

The Verve staff had a fast chat with the designer on the bottom at Style Week….

“Working with NEXA and attending to know their philosophy and the liberty that they gave us to place all our creativity into this assortment was superb, and I need to thank NEXA and Lakmé for giving us this chance to precise our feelings via clothes.”

Read moreHow one can tie Tods footwear knot and How one can clear Tods suede footwear

“The model title Two Level Two itself is a testomony to our philosophy of inclusivity and variety as a result of we needed to transcend the genders, past the binary of genders, which is 0 and 1, in order that’s why it’s known as Two Level Two….”

“With this particular assortment, via our mannequin choice, via our set and all the pieces else, we needed to incorporate range and inclusivity as a result of that could be a crucial ideology for us, and because the inception of the model 4 years in the past, this has been our core worth, and we’ve got all the time stood by it…. We would change colors or silhouettes in our collections, however this id and this core worth all the time stay the identical.”

“Earlier than this, we’ve got showcased at London Style Week, and we’ve got performed a digital showcase at LA Style Week. Now we have additionally performed Milan Style Week via Scouting for India, and I really feel that each one these locations have totally different cultures, totally different life and totally different professionalism and ethics. However, I really feel that the one frequent factor was the willingness to just accept experimentation and drama, and an openness to new concepts, and I really feel that India shouldn’t be far behind – it’s enhancing.”