Earlier this week, Vivienne Westwood unveiled its first-ever fashion spectacle in India, a splendid affair against the Gateway of India. All eyes were unexpectedly drawn to Radhika Merchant. She arrived draped in a custom silk saree, alive with Renaissance paintings and edged with gilded borders. But it was what lay beneath that rewrote the rules of the evening — a rare 1990s Vivienne Westwood corset. The juxtaposition was startling.
Art of fusion
The saree has been an amalgam of endowment. The corset, on the other hand, has lived many lives; from a restrictive Victorian cage to a modern symbol of autonomy and power. Their union is a paradox: Structure and fluidity, control and liberation, past and present. The corset saree isn’t as merely worn as it’s wielded.
Bollywood’s corset muse moment
Every revolution has its muses, and Bollywood’s leading women have adopted the corset saree with relentless fervour.
Alia Bhatt’s chikankari-infused corset saree didn’t cease ascertaining that embroidery and edge can coexist seamlessly. Kiara Advani, on the other hand, channelled a siren’s magnetism with her mermaid-inspired drape, framing a shimmering ensemble.
Janhvi Kapoor turned heads in a black saree paired with a floral corset. The structured bodice sculpted her waist, while the soft, feminine florals rustled romance. During the festive season, Suhana Khan staked her claim as best-dressed in a show-stopping red-on-red look; a fiery corset draped in the satin enclasp of a saree for a vision of contemporary plushness.
Tamannaah Bhatia revisited sultry elegance, styling her corset saree with an unconventional drape. With a red lip and high-octane mystique, she clouded the lines between classic and new.
And, then there’s Kareena Kapoor Khan, the eternal trendsetter. With a monochrome corset saree, her corset stood its ground for sometimes, minimalism can be just as striking as maximalism.
Designers leading the charge
If the corset saree has found its moment, designers are the architects of its rise.
Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla weave luxury into every thread; their corset sarees are made for grand celebrations. Rahul Mishra takes an avant-garde approach to create wearable art.
Bridal couture on red carpets has given the corset saree its ultimate power move. But can it transcend fleeting trends? Can it transition from showstopper to staple? The answer lies in its evolution. If designers soften its structure, weave it into ready-to-wear, and adapt it for movement and ease, the corset saree might just become a new-age classic.
A movement
The corset saree is the latest act of freethinking. It dismantles the notion that tradition is static. The corset is a quiet roll stitched into its seams. It seeks to ask: What if tradition wasn’t something to be preserved in glass cases, but something to be lived, and rethought?