Must watch: Model sashays down Puri’s Grand Road!

Bhubaneswar/Puri: International fashion house Chanel is known for showcasing its designs in magnanimous and larger-than-life fashion shows across the world. Showgoers have been transported to the airport, supermarket, carnival, bombed out theatre, feminist protest, underwater, Antarctica and even space, with the set-up being loaded with over-the-top props and theatrics, just to set the stage for the showstopper costumes make a stunning appearance. Chanel also staged a ramp show with the epochal Great Wall of China in the backdrop once.

Taking a leaf out of this luxury couture brand’s book, Odisha fashion designer Madhusmita Panda is currently shooting a fashion portfolio that has model Christeena Biju catwalk right in the middle of the iconic Bada Daanda (Grand Road) of Puri, amidst blaring loudspeakers, horns and turning heads of passers-by.

This Madhusmita’s label ‘Weaverants’ is launching a fashion line that includes lehengas and sarees with quintessential Pattachitra designs among others on raw silk fabrics and has none other than Ollywood celebrity Anu Choudhury modelling for a few ensembles. The looks of the outfits have been extensively shot with the Puri beach and Bada Daanda as backdrops.

“We actually had home guards in place for security, as crowd swelled when the model sashayed down Bada Danda. We have taken care to show respect to Lord Jagannath and the sentiments of people of Puri. Therefore, there is not an inch of skin show in the name of fashion,” said Madhusmita, a resident of Puri, who always wanted the Jagannath temple in the frame for her photo shoots. Her first-ever fashion line-up was based on Pattachitra and she has a traditional bias towards this Odia art form.

Photographer Jacky Nayak is the man behind the lens of this novel photo-op, pictures of which will be unveiled in January 2018. “This is a curtain-raiser to a gala fashion shoot of Khadi collection, comprising Indo-western wear in Ikat and Pattachitra, that I am planning to launch in April next year,” said an excited Madhusmita in an exclusive chat with Odisha Sun Times.