LFWSS25 - Vibrant Tradition Meets Contemporary Flair in Rocky Star’s LFWSS25 Showcase
The spiralling turrets of St. John’s Church, standing tall in the middle of Hyde Park, seem to pierce right through the Aurelian expanses of a rare clear September sky. Stepping through the hallowed walls of this church, I found myself not kneeling in obedience before the eclectic colours of the stained-glass panels. Instead, I stood awed by the ephemeral grace and breezy beauty of Rocky Star’s SS25 collection.
By the end of the show, one thing was clear: this was an altar to the glorious breadth of his vision, and we were mere mortals witnessing the same. “Vintage, special and dark,” are the three words the designer promptly comes up with, to describe his runway show as we sit down to have a quick chat, in the breathtaking aftermath of his show.
And what a show it was. If Raf Simmons plastered every possible inch of wall for his debut Dior collection with fresh blossoms, Star does something starkly contrasting. In modern silhouettes, layered with the choicest of jackets and shrugs, Star skillfully weaves a curiously pleasant ode to the floral world through a sustained sartorial romance with the dichotomous fragility and edginess that is the very definition of feminine grace.
A welcome departure from the baroque campiness of his debut collection at LFW earlier this year, Star doesn't shy away from admitting the abiding influence his own culture has had on his work. “I like to mix a lot of things. Part of it is baroque, but part of it is also my culture from India and I love the influences of handcrafted embroidery and the blend of those together,” he shares.
At a time when Indian designers are facing a critical stagnation in global markets owing to the culturally-locked nature of their silhouettes, Star has been among the baton of emerging designers and couturiers who do not shy away from blending the best of Indian hand-craft with the razor-sharp universality of Western tailoring. “I wanted to keep it contemporary and universal, so it sort of ends up as a blend of a lot of things together,” he says about a collection that is nothing but instantly sellable.
And part of this salability also derives from an absolutely envious aura that bathes the Rocky Star Woman. This season in a collection daintily titled, ’Blush Eclat’ this woman is the stuff of every girl’s journal pages. She is a walking ode to the poetry of springtime. She is pretty much the stuff moodboards of all-girls pyjama parties are made of. She struts around confidently in pastels but doesn't shy away from splashing the occasional midnight black.
As a woman, she is wedded to the tunic, but her edginess reinvents the virility of this silhouette with bold sleeves. Flashy, bratty, anything but demure - she is mindful of the overpowering pink on her chiffon fabrics and the embellished gold sequins of her dresses. She is just a girl, but also one who is on her way to the altar soon. Star explains this atemporal quality of his pieces by adding, “The kind of silhouettes I do are not over the top, not too today. A jacket of mine can be worn even 10 or 15 years later.”
Critics might argue against such a safe bet. But for Star his eyes are set elsewhere. At a time when an enforced theatricality threatens to derail spontaneous creativity in fashion spaces across the globe, Star is content to not shock.
He is here to have a good time, sew his hems and sell some clothes. At a time when the vulgarity of replicative gimmicks tire the eyes, the simple comfort of Star's aesthetic and tailoring soothe the soul. And that surely, can never be a bad thing.
Written by Anwesh Banerjee
Edited and Interview conducted by Holly Anderson
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