Wool for summers? Fashion designers pitch trend

Pic Courtesy: Thinckstock Images

New Delhi: Wool conventionally associated with warmth has been fashioned into a new range of summer apparel that promises to keep one cool even in the heat!

The Woolmark Company of Australian Wool innovation has collaborated, for the third time, with suiting fabrics manufacturer and retailer Raymond to propagate wool as an all weather fabric.

Their latest Spring Summer collection has been designed especially for the Indian summers. The collection was unveiled at an event here recently at the Australian High Commission.

Designed by eminent fashion designers like Timothy Everest, Rajesh Pratap Singh and Suket Dhir, the collection offers innovations like Linen Wool, Silk blends and Wool Silk fabrics that Everest says are "extremely light."

"The apparels are crafted from superfine merino wool that is known for its breathability and thermal management properties that keeps you cool in summers," says Stuart McCullogh, MD, The Woolmark Company. The fabric, he says, is 'trans-seasonal.'

Referring to the unique characteristics of merino wool or cool wool as it is popularly called, Everest says, "When you wear it in hot weather it keeps you four degrees cooler and when you wear it during cooler climates, it keeps you four degrees warmer."

Also, he says, the fabric is tried and tested, to have survived humidity, thus making it suitable to be worn during summers in any part of the country.
The selected designs, mostly menswear, showcased at the launch of the collection, were "deconstructing tailored apparel."

"Deconstructed apparel is such that if you roll it up and throw it away and then pick it up and sip it on, it feels fine," says Everest. "We believe that soft tailoring and deconstructing tailored apparel works particularly well with Cool Wool certified fabrics allowing the wearer to function comfortably in harsh, hot climates," says McCollough.

With linen and cotton being the favourite pick of Indians across the country during summers, getting customers to choose cool wool over the two fabrics continues to be a challenge. 

Timothy Everest, bespoke tailor and designer who has dressed celebrities for the Oscars, designed the British Olympic team uniforms for the 2000 Games in Sydney and created costumes for films including "Mission Impossible" and "Skyfall" created 12 garments for the collection, that includes the Nehru jackets.

The idea was "to provide something new for Indian customers," says Everest who incorporated pop colours into the collars. Suket Dhir who transforms cottons, linen, bamboo, fine mulmul and silk blends into universal silhouettes showcased formals in bold and "dusty" colours like yellow, salmon, peach, blue, grey and brown in subtle Indian prints.

"We have used Indian prints in a very global way and have incorporated dusty colours as it works well with all skin tones," says Dhir. Actor Neil Nitin Mukesh showed off creations by designer Rajesh Pratap Singh who had designed a collection dominated by with his trademark colours of white navy indigo and black.

The Spring Summer collection, priced between Rs 8,000 to Rs 26,000 per metre, is available in the form of suit lengths as well as swatch samples.