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ADD T ONAL WORDS: JEN NUR CK HA R: PETE LENNONMAKE UP: G LL AN CAMPBELL MODEL: ADUT AKECHALL PRICES APPROXIMATE DETAILS AT VOGUE.COM.AU/WTB
SEPTEMBER 2019
One look at Benjamin Garg’s rich
hues should nix your neutrals
obsession, writes Clare Press.VOGUE VIEWPOINT
NO WALLFLOWERS HERE.Benjamin Garg’s work is an explosion
of volume and colour: orange; the weathered ochre of ancient Rajasthani
castles; summer-sky blue. “For me, these colours evoke joy,” says the
designer. Taking those hues, the sari’s drape and the energy of Indian
classical dance as his starting points, Garg has produced something
rooted in the past but committed to the future.
His process begins on the mannequin, gathering, pleating, knotting,
then moves to a computer, where he Photoshops his dreamy
silhouettes before creating his patterns. One skirt might take as much
as 20 metres of fine pleated, wrinkled cotton, yet come across light as
fairy floss. The wearer “must feel free, relaxed with continuous
circulation of air”, he says.
Melbourne-based Garg, who hails from the village of Mudki in the
Indian state of Punjab, was a standout graduate from RMIT’s Masters of
Fashion program last year. “I was the kid who wanted to play with fabric,”
he says, recalling boyhood days spent draping and gluing rudimentary
outfits for himself and, when they’d let him, the family’s housekeepers.
He upcycled his mother’s old clothes, and once he fashioned a frock for
a doll from an unwanted scrap of brown fleece fabric.
These days he’s sourcing more refined materials. Garg’s obsession is
Kota doria, a tradition of hand-loomed translucent muslins once
supported by royal patronage. “This desert fabric is
produced in towns and villages in and around Kota city
[in south-eastern Rajasthan]. Kota saris are the lightest
cotton saris available in India,” he says, explaining that the
weaves vary according to yarn gauges, while the different
fine check patterns are known askhat.
There’s something of the spiritual in its making, he says.
“These handicrafts are made with blossomed heart and
peace of mind, which is equivalent to meditation. These
talented artisan hands work to give: [they] don’t demand
much in return, [they] just want you to be at peace. That’s
the same energy I want to embed in my garments, and to
give to the wearer.”
Garg makes to order, for sustainability reasons as well as
practical ones. He talks of slow fashion and reconnection,
and says he’s driven, as a designer, “by the idea of filling
positive energy where it has been lost in this digital,
industrialised age”. His work is indeed energetic. There’s
an expansive freshness to it, something like an Indian version of Molly
Goddard. Garg’s clothes, with their kinetic grace and lightness, literally
speak volumes. “Fashion is the perfect voice for me to communicate
through,” he says. “I am not much of a talker.” ■BenjaminGarg tops and skirt, $3,000 for the look.
In right ear: Îmmørtalë Jewellery earring, P.O.A.
In left ear: Anne Manns earring, $439.STYLE FO RDAYS
To mark its 25th birthday, Melbourne Fashion Week
is celebrating the best of fashion on the Australian stage.
Voguepicks other Melbourne talents to watch now.
ARNSDORFThis eco-conscious womenswear label creates
elevated everyday clothes using organic cotton, hemp and linen.
CHRIS RAN LINAfocus on tailoring plays into Chris Ran
Lin’s love of knitwear for his eponymous menswear label.
KALAURIEHandcrafted-to-order,limited-edition capsule
collections use deadstock trims and surplus fabrics.
Melbourne Fashion Week runs from August 28 to September 5.
For tickets, go to mfw.melbourne.vic.gov.au.