Roots & Wings by Archana Balu: A Stitched Path Through Identity
B.Sc. in Fashion and Apparel Design 2022
Roots & Wings by Archana Balu is greater than a fashion collection—it’s a narrative sewn with intent, born out of conflict between self and heritage. Divided into three strong phases, the collection delves into emotional and cultural change through the process of textile creation.
Entrapment, the initial phase, employs dark hues and restricted silhouettes to evoke the terror of being burdened by inheritance. Employing outdated fashions such as Kotapad and Kalna, it wraps around itself the burden of tradition.
Next is Projection & Mutual Erosion, an imagery allegory of identity in crisis. Riven earthy textures and differing draping patterns—Telangana to Kerala and Jharkhand—suggest the rupture caused by external pressures. A raw, unadorned struggle with one’s cultural and individual burdens.
The final stage, Breaking the Cycle, bursts forth with colour and uninhibited forms. Bastar, Madhubani, and Yakshagana elements are reinterpreted, not to remember restraint, but as freedom and uniqueness. It is an assertive re-appropriation of inheritance as inspiration and not restraint.
The core concept is entirely inspired by the idea of Crab Mentality, developed through three distinct thematic areas. Ultimately, it stands as an avant-garde collection, pushing creative and conceptual boundaries. Archana experimented with everything—combining various types of silk, incorporating distinctive motifs and detailed embellishments on the weaves with surprise ingredients like plastic boning and wire frames. The result is an impeccable fusion of vintage and aggressive modern.
Directed at the world-aware consumer in their twenties to fifties, Roots & Wings speaks to the group of people who value narrative and content. Rather than seeing heritage in terms of what needs to be escaped, Archana makes it a springboard for authenticity and originality.