Day one in Delhi

After a 4:45am airport meet up, a stopover in Melbourne and a total of 15 hours whinging about our sore rears, we're greeted by the hazy kaleidoscope of a mid-air Delhi sunset. 

Battling our lethargic bodies, we braced the rush of parched 35-degree air, the crowds outside the airport, the first and most frightening drive through Delhi traffic to fall right into bed.

Our official first day in Delhi featured the best of the best: Fabric Markets.

The fabric markets in Nehru Place is the closest possible depiction of heaven to a fashion student. Stores with infinite walls of silks, cottons, linens and more, crammed from floor to ceiling, proved to be a bit overwhelming. Being told that we could take the lift up and down to even more floors of the same store saw a communal, momentary paralysis (there may or may not have been some drooling). Afterwards however, it was full steam ahead.

Silk blends that feel like feathers, intricate indigo-dyed shibori, chunky jute open weaves, subtly decorated natural cottons – perfect for printing. To put things into perspective, vibrant cotton prints would go for around 150 rupees a metre, approximately $3AUD. Three hours of decadent frolicking later, I had produced quite a heavy procession of bags stuffed with as much fabric as I could (only just) carry.

Aside from slowly diminishing my funds on fabrics alone, we visited several points within the Indian design market spectrum. At the Crest? In … the designer boutique stores showcased more contemporary takes upon fashion, jewellery, home wares and more. It can be easy to regard the Indian design and fashion aesthetic as ingrained or unchanging, as it is so uniquely deep-set within the culture. It is interesting to see within these emerging designer brands, the integration of a foreign - not always western - influence. Seeing the lower end of the market, quite literally the local marketplace, was also interesting. Quality of the goods was not to the highest assurance, but this same Indian fashion fusion was still prevalent.  

The Indian aesthetic is something I've always managed to transpose to some degree in my design, whether intentional or not. High school years from year 9 onwards saw an obsession with the decoration of folders and notebooks of henna doodles, and even now, watercolour mandalas paintings dominate my digitally printed swimwear for another university project. To now be in India feels a bit surreal, but absolutely loving it.