The salwar returns to the runway with a new look
The salwar seemed to have faded away, replaced by palazzos and dhoti pants but designers and celebrities have been wearing them again, reminding us that classics never go out of fashion
During a recent Iftar get-together at Old Delhi’s grand Jama Masjid, a pair of pants caught my attention: the floor-sweeping farshi salwar, which borrows its name from the Urdu word for floor, farsh. It wasn’t just the bright pink colour that stood out in a sea of heavily embroidered palazzos and slim dhoti-pants; its presence indicated that celebrities and content creators flaunting their love for salwars online is more than just a social media trend.
For the past few years, the salwar hadn’t been on top of the list of looks for labels and designer brands. Palazzos, cigarette pants, dhoti-pants, harem pants, wide-legged pants and skinny pants ruled, and continue to do so on runways, streets and fast-fashion racks.
The salwar has been part of the Indian dress code from the Mughal era and is traditional wear in the states of Punjab, Haryana, Kashmir, Gujarat and Uttar Pradesh.
Some said it had lost its sheen because it didn’t fit into the modern wardrobe. Others said it had evolved into the palazzo or straight, wide trousers to be worn with kurtas. It had evolved much like the kameez, which became short, long, fitted, oversized, asymmetrical and everything in between.
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The only thing is that the kameez, or the kurta, no matter how it was shaped or styled, still looked like a kameez. The same couldn’t be said for the salwar.
The pleated salwar, presented at the recent spring-summer collection show by Bodice in Delhi, however, instantly evoked the classic silhouette in shades of ecru and black.
“I wanted a create a global salwar, something that you can wear to a meeting as well as a party," says Ruchika Sachdeva, the Delhi-based founder and creative director of the contemporary label Bodice, who grew up in a Punjabi household where the women mostly wore salwar-kameez.
“For far too long, the world has been focused on the upper half of the body. The crotch or the waistband area doesn’t get as much attention because it’s hidden under a top or a kurta; people experiment with volume and shapes on the top, and the lower is generally straight, skinny or baggy. I think now people are realising how much the shape of the salwar can add to an entire ensemble. There’s something holistic about it," Sachdeva explains.
It’s also elegant. Palazzos work, says couturier Sandeep Khosla of the brand Abu Jani Sandeep, “but they are a bit clumsy and expose your ankles and feet often. The fall of the salwar, on the other hand, is spectacular." Abu Jani Sandeep offers a variety of salwars for men and women through its pret labels Mard and Gulabo.
In the past few months, salwar offerings at retail chains like Westside have also gone beyond blacks and whites to summer floral prints and crochet detailing at the seams.
The beauty of the salwar is that “it can be tailored in so many forms, patiala salwar, harem-pant salwar," Khosla continues. “There’s something so feminine about it. It’s not surprising it is making a comeback. It’s a classic; it had to."
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