Bringing the Northeast to the centre
LIKE most of us in India, I have been too late in discovering the gems of the Northeast. My first trip there was just a couple years ago to Arunachal Pradesh and Assam, following Aamir Khan and his family to the possibly the most gorgeous spot on the planet – the Aborcountry River Camp – an ecofriendly resort in Pasighat on the banks of the Siang river started by the popular Adi boy Oken Tayeng.
I was convinced nothing in India or anywhere in the world was prettier than Pasighat’s green mountains, silver beaches and turquoise rivers with driftwood floating in from China. Getting here was easy, just two hours away from Assam’s Dibrugarh airport. Pasighat is also home to some of the finest teas I’ve ever had – the Donyi Polo tea estate nearby grows some of the rarest and most expensive teas in the world.
Last month, I made my first and very excited trip to Mizoram, a small landlocked state between Bangladesh and Myanmar. Less tourism, more local activities this time, as I had attended the first Zoram Fashion Showcase, an offering by the newly formed Aizawl Design Project.
In these times when cultural appropriation knows little accountability (side-eye to Ralph Lauren), the Aizawl Design Project aims at telling its own stories. The Northeast says it is done with others who visit and take back ideas, motifs, textiles as inspiration or even appropriation. It’s also largely problematic as many motifs are unique to certain tribes, genders and social hierarchies.
Understandably, there has been much romanticism and exoticism.
Three designers from Mizoram – Hannah Khiangte, Lapâr, and Escape Engmoia – each one with a strong and individualistic voice, have come together to showcase Zo craft, memory and its design language. The Project roped in the renowned Lal Moya, the USA-based events curator, to conceive and put together the showcase. Moya says the Zo, “always had the talent, they just needed a platform and the courage”. The edgy stylist James Lalthanzuala, also from Mizoram, was brought in to style the show in a clever and contemporary manner.
Khiangte is easily the most popular designer in the region, she has even dressed Kareena Kapoor. “Here, textiles are never textiles; they carry meaning, history and identity,” she says. Khiangte’s work is all about craft and community, she ensures her work has Zo textiles feeling as modern as they are rooted. Khiangte’s collection was so original, playing with shape and silhouette to include many versions of the jacket or shirt and the sarong (known as the ‘puan’ here), staples of Zo dressing, in new and inventive ways.
Lapâr and its designer Patricia Zadeng stood for elegance for me. Her collection was muted in dark neutral colours, black, gold, brown, navy and the odd white puan and blouse. Inspired by the local cotton flower that was indigenous to this region, Zadeng speaks about the transition from spirituality to Christianity, the dominant religion in this state. The Lapâr woman is quiet, confident and very conscious of her place under the sun. These clothes could be worn in any geography of the world, but you could recognise the Zo elements in each ensemble. Zadeng is an NID alumnus and has worked with Rahul Mishra previously.
Escape Engmoia, by Lalengmawia, was fun and irreverent in a collection that drew from Mizoram’s terrain. “I wanted the collection to feel like Mizoram’s hills, greenery, and flowers,” he says. Lalengmawia has been making clothes as a child. He opened a little boutique in his hometown in Vairengte, before moving on to a swanky showroom in Aizawl.
Each designer had modernised the puan in their own original ways, not like a tribute but an effort to keep it interesting even in a contemporary wardrobe.
Mizoram is probably one of the most unusual states in India. Like much of the Northeast, development has eluded it. Its streets and shops look like they were built decades ago. There is no industry, and government jobs are coveted. And yet its people make the state among the most liveable states. Mizoram citizens do not honk, despite their tiny winding lanes. The women run the shops, while the men are at home. It’s incredibly safe for women, as a late-night walk showed me. Mizoram has 100% literacy and everyone speaks convent-educated English.
Residents are incredibly well-dressed, even if in simple everyday clothes, they will add on one twist of style to elevate their look. Simple living that calls for inventive clothing.
