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Looking back at sustainable and archival stories told through fashion by designers and celebrities.
In 2024, rewear, archival and revive were the fashion industry’s favourite words.
Reminiscing the year gone by and celebrating designs that once created history, 2024 embraced nostalgia in fashion. From archival designs to forgotten embroideries, fashion houses told stories through fashion this year.
From rewearing their mother’s sarees for special occasions to being styled in archival pieces for film promotions, celebrities made a dazzling statement in 2024. Reliving memories through design, not only celebrated the intricate craftsmanship of the designer but also encouraged sustainability.
Here’s revisiting some iconic styles reworn, revived, and recycled by Indian and International celebrities.
Rewear The Memories
One of the major wins in 2024 was repeating clothes and styling them with love. While most celebrities source their outfits for events, it is always interesting to see them repeat looks from their personal wardrobes.
Alia Bhatt: For Manish Malhotra’s Diwali party, Alia Bhatt chose to re-wear her mehendi lehenga set designed by Manish Malhotra. Alia, who married Ranbir Kapoor in 2022, adorned this lehenga made up of 180 textile patches. It took the Mijwan women artisans 3000 hours to craft this colourful, vibrant lehenga. The lehenga was paired with a blouse embellished in real gold and silver nakshi and kora flowers, and vintage gold metal sequins from Kutch, Gujarat.
Sonakshi Sinha: For her wedding ceremony, Sonakshi Sinha draped her mother, Poonam Sinha’s vintage saree, and adorned the bridal look with her jewellery too. Sonakshi paired the intricately embroidered saree with a striped blouse. Her bridal jewellery featured a pearl necklace adorned with precious stones that added a hint of sparkle to Sonakshi’s bridal look.
Similarly, celebrities such as Sonakshi Sinha, Bhumi Pednekar, Ananya Panday, Sanya Malhotra, and Esha Gupta rewore their respective mother’s ensembles on various occasions.
The red carpet and film promotions too saw celebrities wear archival pieces from renowned fashion houses. Zendaya adorned couturier Manfred Thierry Mugler’s Robotic Suit from the Fall Winter 1995-1996 20th anniversary collection Cirque d’hiver, at the Dune Part Two World Premiere. The metallic silhouette with cut-out detailing best describes Mugler’s love for fashion and fantasy.
Recycle For A Better Future
David Abraham and Rakesh Thakore of Abraham & Thakore turned the runway into a recycled paradise. Reflecting the brand’s commitment to thoughtful, sustainable fashion, the designers turned discarded X-rays, old film reels, unspooled cassette tapes, and snack wrappers into desirable evening wear for their collection, Finding Beauty. Turning muse for the designer duo, Shefali Shah sashayed down the runway in a black sequin saree. Ask what’s special about this drape? Well, the sequins embellished on the saree were created from discarded X-rays.
Revive The Craft
Indian crafts, embroideries, and textiles were celebrated throughout the year by celebrities and their stylists. Reviving age-old traditional crafts and embroideries and incorporating them in contemporary silhouettes has not only highlighted the forgotten art but also helped breathe new life into it.
Kangana Ranaut celebrates traditional allure in Pankaj S Heritage saree from the Rajputan collection that features revived embroideries such as vasli, dhok, chikandozi, and kharra gota.
