Samurai comes to the fashion week

New Delhi: Designer Narendra Kumar has some bewitching designs to offer at Men’s Fashion Week in Delhi, where the ace designer is bringing the Samurais on the ramp.

Kagemusha (Shadow Warrior) by Narendra Kumar is an endeavour to bring Japanese inspired designs to India, and the world. He gives a peep to his splendid collection and answers all queries enthusiastically in a chat with Kakoli Sengupta of Spicezee.com. Q: How did Japan influence you to come up with this unique collection? Narendra: I went to Japan a year ago, Japanese art influenced me and I decided to bring India and Japan together. My visit to Japan was amazing. I changed my perspective and it has added an entirely new dimension to my creativity. Japan has inspired me to create this collection, and I believe that we can create designs for the Indian, Japanese, and overseas markets. I believe the time is right for a close collaboration between India and Japan, and I am proud to be the first in the world of fashion to be able to do that. Q: What does ‘Kage Musha’ mean? Narendra: ‘Kage Musha’ means a shadow warrior. It is actually a name of a movie directed by Akira Kurosawa in 1980. It marks a shift in tailoring and has added new aesthetics to men’s wear. It is a juxtaposition of Japanese minimalism, echoing the Zen philosophy, and Japanese decorative arts, Ikebana and Yakuza tattoo prints combined with tailoring in a colour palette which refers to the dark period of Kamakura and Kagemusha. The muted, dark colour palette, accented with rust orange, provides a subtly luxurious base upon which to build a directional style in formal wear. Staying true to the designer’s aesthetic, the focus is on tailoring, but with a soft edge and contemporary silhouettes incorporating alluring draping. Q: So you have decided to bring Japan on the ramp? Narendra: Japanese tradition has been manifested in a modern way. It is for the Indian male who is confident and wants to make a statement about his style. Q: What kind of fabrics did you experiment with? Narendra: Authentic luxury is displayed through the use of fine satin linen fibres, supremely suited for formal/evening wear, while experimenting with new hand-dyed technique textiles – created by Indian craftsmen using Shibori, the traditional Japanese tie-dye method. Q: Apart from your clothes any other USP of your show? Narendra: It would be shoes and bags. We are launching our very own shoe line with ‘Kage Musha’. Q: If you are asked to define your collection in one word, what would it be? Narendra: Ecelectic!