Chennai’s Koyambedu market inspires Sanjay Garg of Raw Mango as he brings his festive collection Garland to Chennai

Sanjay Garg isn’t any stranger to Koyambedu flower market. It’s a place he frequents throughout his visits to Chennai. He loves flowers, jasmine being his favorite. Little surprise that his retailer in Chennai — that he launched in 2022 — known as Malligai.

The inspiration

And now, the Koyambedu flower market is the inspiration for his Uncooked Mango Festive 2024 assortment titled Garland. “I like to choose my very own flowers,” says the designer, who spent the morning shopping for flowers from the marketplace for his present. He then wandered across the “mandi” at 6 am, admiring the garlands. “If you’re doing a line with garlands central to the theme, then it’s essential to perceive them, know what flowers and leaves are used, the way it’s woven collectively. To attract inspiration from something, one should be observant and sensitised to their environment. These observations inform my design,” he says. Consideration to element is necessary to him.

Sanjay Garg

Just a few hours later, he storms into the Museum Theatre (the venue for his style present), trying victorious, with a bagful of contemporary jasmine. He fingers it over to his crew, who rapidly get to work. In between getting the area prepared for the night, he sits down and exhibits me pictures of garlands from Koyambedu. “Garlands have a sculptural high quality. You don’t see craft like this in a elaborate flower store. How did they put this collectively?” he says pointing to a thick yellow and inexperienced maalai.

“They are often interpreted in several varieties — this one appears to be like like a human kind, and this appears to be like like a temple,” he says, swiping previous pictures. He then jumps out of his seat and brings a fistful of leaves. “Odor them,” he says as he affords me basil, sage, and marikozhundu. “So aromatic, I’m including them to the armrest of every seat right here,” he says.

The color palette contains purple, pink, inexperienced, and yellow

Sanjay enjoys doing issues in another way. “I don’t like standardised issues. Which is why I want staying at golf equipment over 5 star accommodations, they’ve life. Equally, I selected Museum Theatre because it has a lot character,” says Sanjay. Over time he has chosen unconventional areas as venues for his exhibits — the parking zone of a mall in Mumbai, the Royal Opera Home additionally in Mumbai, a pathway in a jungle close to Bengaluru, a wrestling stadium in Delhi… Subsequent, he says he wish to host a present at a library or prepare station… “I’m not a style particular person, I have a look at style design, artwork and tradition as a complete. So, my focus throughout exhibits is not only on the garments alone however on each factor to do with the present together with area, music, show,” he says.

The present

On the Uncooked Mango Festive 2024 Style Present hosted by FICCI FLO, males in white, seated on cane muras (conventional spherical stool), take centre stage. These are three generations of saperas (snake charmers) from Rajasthan. Because the curtains go up, the lads play the been and tumba, and this varieties the background music for the fashions. It’s pure, uncooked music, minus any digital intervention. Although charming at first, in the direction of the tip of the 19-minute present, the music begins to really feel a tad overbearing.

The fashions weave out and in via the aisles of Museum Theatre in Uncooked Mango’s newest assortment teamed with festive jewelry by Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers.

A mannequin showcases festive items by Vummidi Bangaru Jewellers

Uncooked Mango’s Garland assortment is vibrant and glossy, nearly like firecrackers lighting up the night time sky. It includes a solitary cape, saris, kurtas, and blouses in brocade silk, organza and tissue. Every with motifs within the type of zardosi, tiki, nakshi, zari or thread embroidery.

On a better look you possibly can spot patterns of lotus, rajnigandha or buds of mogra entwined collectively forming a serpentine maala across the breadth of the saris. One other piece is ruched on the backside to offer the looks of strung garlands, and that is sealed with dabka embroidery. Taking a cue from the layers in flower garlands, the layering right here options zardosi, tiki and nakshi embroidery on high of the woven brocade garland motifs. And all these in Uncooked Mango’s trademark vibrant hues of pink, inexperienced, yellow, purple. With among the kurtas, the shades transition from mild to darkish identical to in petals the place you see one color fuse into one other, explains Sanjay.

Candy 16

Uncooked Mango is 16 this 12 months. However regardless of its success, Sanjay says he has by no means had a sense of accomplishment. “There’s a lot to do. I’ve been stressed. I really feel like time is working out.”

Sanjay has shops in six cities, with the seventh opening in Kolkata shortly. He needs to take his model to extra cities, together with Tier 2 cities. He’ll, nonetheless, proceed to do one assortment a 12 months. “I don’t imagine in seasons or traits. What you see is me expressing my way of thinking. I may be impressed when I’m pleased, offended, unhappy… and that may’t be restricted to seasons.”