The spotlight for this month at Whistling Woods Neeta LullaSchool of Fashion was on the Kushan Draping Style by our students. Guided by
Jashika Ratanpal, textle designer one of our faculty members, our students have
created garments inspired from the Kushan era.
The Kushan era spanned across centuries and covered a large
geographical area including parts of China, Afghanistan, Pakistan and North
India and had influences of Buddhism and its followers. Culturally, the Kushan Empire borrowed a lot from Buddhist
and Greek cultures and seamlessly wove in the brilliance in their sartorial
creations.
The Costumes
The Kushan (Indo-scythian)
dress had evolved from a nomad culture based on the use of the horse. Drapery is stylized in the
early period, and they are in stark contrast to the second style, which is
typified by the Gandhara and Mathura schools of Kushan art.
The ordinary dress consisted
of an antariya, uttariya and kayabandh,
with a turban for men. But the arrival of the Kushans extended the fashion of
wearing sewn garments with all classes of Indians in north India.
Kushan
costumes may be divided into five types:
·
Antariya, Uttariya,
and Kayabandh- Worn by
Indigenous people
·
Kancuka, red-brown in color- Worn by guardians and attendants
of the harem
·
Garments with
embellishments worn by Kushan rulers and their entourage
·
Rich fabrics Worn
by other foreigners such as grooms, traders, etc
·
A mixture of different
fabrics - Worn by foreign and indigenous people
Although, the clothes were
simple, they were often adorned with stamped gold or metal plates, square,
rectangular, circular, or triangular sewn in lines or at the central seams of
the tunic.
To
gain a holistic idea of drapery of Kushna civilization, our students draped
mannequins in styles prevalent during that era and further, to get inspired by
the cultural richness and take forward the essence while designing a modern day
drape.
Our
students found this activity engaging and enjoyed along with learning more
about the Indian historic costumes.