Where has Supriya Lele been, you might have been asking? Well, the British designer has been busy during her hiatus from the runway. In May, she ventured into the art world, taking over the former pharmacy beneath her studio in Southwark to open the Qrystal Partners gallery alongside curator Donald Ryan. And just last week, she was in New York, following months of working on a special collection for the newly revamped Victoria’s Secret, adorning its angels in marble-inspired drapery fit for a Greek goddess. It’s provided ample momentum for what many have framed as her fashion comeback (although she never technically hit pause on her business): a return to the LFW schedule with a standalone show heralding a new chapter for her namesake line. You see, Supriya has grown up since her Fashion East days — no longer one of London’s young rising stars, she is ready to declare herself a Big Girl designer, with an ardently loyal, far-reaching community of women who adore her designs.
“It’s definitely a continuation, but I wanted to put it together in a different way,” Supriya explained in a preview, surveying the line-up of slinky, body-conscious looks on the rail. “It feels quite grown up – there’s still playfulness and a seductiveness, but ultimately it feels quite chic.” Perhaps it’s her foray into the art world — whose acolytes are typically renowned for their far chicer dress sense than their fashion counterparts — or perhaps it’s the assurance that comes with stepping back into the frame with a few years of experience under her low-slung belt. She feels at peace with having taken a break, and perhaps taking another one when she next needs to. “I’m not sure I want to show every season – I want to explore other avenues some seasons, perhaps through different visuals and how people can experience the work in a different way, and that definitely comes from opening the gallery and working with artists.”
“You don’t often get a moment to just stop and think, ‘Okay, what do I want to do?’ There’s so many deadlines, and the cycle is the way it is and I needed a creative reset to figure out what I want to do,” she added. “What is it that I really love in my own work? I wanted to see it as a reboot; this is Supriya Lele, and this is what she does really well.”
The result is a collection with plenty for existing fans of Supriya’s 90s-inflected brand of sultry, slinky minimalism: liquid silver georgette slip skirts, barely-there chiffon dresses, summery leotards that can just as easily slip into a pair of jeans and sculpted bralettes in satin and leather. Diaphanous drapes of chiffon float as if worn by a Greek goddess, while cobweb-like crochets worn with rubber rock-climbing shoes hint at more contemporary life on Greek islands. There are beautiful colours, as always: earthy tones paired with parrot greens and powdery lilacs borrowed from a frosted lipstick worn by artist Jai Chuhan at the opening of her exhibition at Qrystal Partners. And there are also fabrics specially developed with a foiled iridescence to give the impression of wetness. “I wanted it to feel clingy and a bit sticky,” Supriya laughs. Summer was clearly on her mind.
You only have to look at the free-flowing drapery taken from traditional saris to see that the references to Supriya’s Indian heritage are very much still present — but you can understand why she might be tired of having to explain them every season. “There are always going to be nods to that, because it’s just me — it’s just the handwriting, but it’s freshened up, and this time, it feels sportier and cleaner.” Case in point: the billowing dropped-waist harem pants with breezy slits down the sides, raw silk jodhpurs and a selection of ribbed-cotton tanks and pants that riff on quotidian Indian life; grandpas and uncles sitting in the sun in their white Y-fronts and vests. It’s there for the knowing eye, but not obvious enough to appear contrived or too literal.
Instead, Supriya wanted to focus on what women can incorporate into their wardrobes, whether a jacket crafted from deadstock leather from Bentley, a great LBD that sculpturally swirls around the shoulders into an asymmetric silhouette, or seriously low-slung skirts with in-built high-rise thongs. “To me, the whole thing feels like a new moment, and I just want to make clothes for the women who are constantly getting in touch with me,” she says. “This is about what I love and what I’m good at — and it’s been pushed that step further, not hugely, but enough that it feels like this is a direction that I really want to go in from here.”
Credits
Photography Francesc Planes