![]() “One of the things which excited me about India – something made with integrity and natural fabrics and dyes – there’s a common thread which weaves through all that.” How does he see the contemporary man and how does he design for him? “Across most cultures, the commonality is comfort and that’s what I try to do – the majority of my time I try to spend in designing clothes that are easy to wear and are rooted in some kind of history,” he says. White slub nylon weatherclothanorak, white seersucker ‘Madan’ pleated placket kurta popover, natural reverse knit jersey drawcord sweatpants. Natural indigo dyed seersucker shirt jacket and ghurka pants, tonal indigo slub cotton and silk vintage stripe shawl kurta.ĭeep earthen cotton and linen knit Nehru vest, white cotton slubduofold shawl kurta, white reverse loopback terry pleated patialapajama sweatpant. “It was really nice to have regular people – I’m much more inspired by normal people because of their experience, their inner personalities – rather than by professional models.”ĭue to his madness or determination, Ciongoli managed to get at least 90 percent people of Indian descent for the runway and the unusual casting got the show a lot of editorial ink. We are very happy the way it worked out.”Ĭiongoli’s casting director spent time in Jersey City and Jackson Heights and Brooklyn as well as on social media, hunting real people from students to the Red Baraat band to people on the street. The big thing wasn’t that he was a cab driver but the fact that he was cool.So I’d rather street-cast the whole thing. All the media seemed intrigued by that but as Ciongoli points out, ” People couldn’t see past the cab driver. At that moment I knew that when I presented my collection, I wanted to recreate this feeling of inspiration, with an all-Indian cast, and with many men and women.” Bagru – The Inspiration Behind the Collection Photo: Glen Allsopīack in New York when he told his casting director of his plan, he was told he was crazy! No one knew any major Indian models so they decided to go with regular street people, including an old Sardarji cabbie. It was a complete departure from my daily life. There were massive earthen fields as far as the eye could see, covered with rolls and rolls of blue denim fabric drying in the sun, with cows meandering across them – because they lived there! I had never seen anything like this. He describes the surreal landscape that he encountered: “It was a completely different world. It is the heart of the textile creation where it is all done by hand. Here artists, designers and writers gather to exchange notes and have a few drinks.īut for Ciongoli, the real eye-opener came in Bagru, a dusty village which is located 45 minutes from Jaipur. Ciongoli found that East and west meet in a restaurant and watering hole called Bar Palladio in Jaipur which has been opened by an Italian expat Barbara Miolini in an ancient Indian palace. ![]() Sheer serendipity took him to India where one of his best friends, who is Indian, was developing textiles in Rajasthan, using natural dyes like indigo, madder and iron. Tan/earthen linen double stripe dobby band collar popover, deep earthen reverse loopback terry pleated patiala pajama sweatpants Natural bonded linen waterproof ‘Bagru’ duster, iron linen work shirt, deep iron reverse terry pleated pajama sweatpants. But instead of using the country’s predictable bright colors and silky fabrics, creative director Antonio Ciongoli took a more-intellectual approach with his neutral palette and raw textured fabrics.” Women’s Wear Daily wrote: “The younger-skewed division of Italian luxury brand Isaia took a more fashion-forward approach to its spring collection, using India as a starting point. Part of the luxury brand Isaia, It is designed in New York but produced in Italy and its makers like to describe it as ‘clothing with soul, made with integrity.’ Well, this did happen at the EIDOS Collection by Italian designer Antonio Ciongoli who said, “I’m really proud we did it – People try to celebrate different cultures during NY Fashion Week, but never something so full-scale.”Īntonio Ciongoli is the creative director of Eidos, a rugged yet refined menswear line from Italy which is sold at major American stores like Bloomingdales, Saks, Nordstrom and Barneys as well as in countries internationally from Russia to Japan to Australia. The Eidos Spring 2017 Collection Imagine a fashion event during the New York Spring 2017 Fashion Week with all Indian models and in clothing inspired by the Indian sub-continent.
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