Ananya Panday brought “bronzed goddess” energy to a Piaget event in Mumbai, but the story behind her Rahul Mishra gown may be even more impressive than the finished look.
Panday attended the watch event wearing a bronze floor-length gown from Rahul Mishra’s latest couture collection, DEVI, styled by Priyanka Kapadia.
The body-skimming gown featured a dramatic plunging neckline and intricate lines of silk thread that created an almost sculptural effect across the body. And that resemblance to carved stone was completely intentional.
According to Mishra, the idea behind the creation began approximately 1,800 years ago.
The designer revealed that the gown was inspired by a 2nd-century CE sculpture from Gandhara, in present-day Pakistan. But rather than simply recreating the sculpture’s appearance, his team looked at the process of sculpting itself, and essentially did the opposite.
A sculptor creates form through subtraction, gradually removing stone millimeter by millimeter.
For DEVI, Mishra explained that his team used an additive process, building silk thread upon silk thread, line upon line and millimeter upon millimeter.
The threads follow the rhythm and movement of the drapery seen in the ancient sculpture until the soft silk begins to create the illusion of carved stone.
As Mishra put it: “What sculpture takes away, couture adds.”
Ananya Panday Goes Full Bronzed Goddess
The concept is fascinating on its own, but Panday’s styling helped bring the sculptural effect to life.
Her skin was given a bronzed finish that complemented the warm tones of the gown and almost made the dress and wearer appear as one continuous sculpture.
The beauty look continued with smoky eyes and a brown lip, while her hair was worn in a deep side part with voluminous, blown-out waves. Rather than competing with the gown, the soft movement of the hair flowed naturally with its sweeping lines.
And because this was a Piaget event, there was, of course, a watch involved.
Panday paired the look with a Piaget watch featuring a rainbow of colorful stones, adding an unexpected burst of color against the otherwise monochromatic bronze ensemble.
The finished look was glamorous, but its construction is what makes it particularly memorable.
Taking inspiration from an ancient sculpture and reversing the artistic process, adding rather than subtracting material until soft silk begins to resemble solid stone, transformed the gown into more than simply another red-carpet look.
On Panday, the result was modern, sculptural and incredibly chic.
