Kitschy Couture

ABOUT THE SHOW

Designer Abarna Kugathasan uses the fashion of her label Kitschy Couture to tell transcultural, very personal, and often socially critical stories—not without a stylistic wink here and there. Her debut show in February was surprisingly the most festive of Fashion Week. This season, the repeat Berlin Contemporary winner invited her guests to the Stadtbad Neukölln, where she celebrated a bride with her collection 'Artificial Paradise'—a bride who, freshly married to herself, goes on a honeymoon and, amidst lotus blossoms and plastic palms, lingers on a giant swan in a Berlin pool, indulging in immigrant nostalgia.

In keeping with the setting, Abarna Kugathasan showcased deconstructed swimwear, lingerie-inspired dresses, bright harem pants, and kimonos made of lace and satin, accompanied by hand-sewn silk roses and dolphins on bags and made of rhinestones. The show concluded with a slim-tailored and mermaid skirt in bright turquoise—a celebration of the label's positivity, inclusivity, and free spirit.

“We‘re sending greetings from our Artificial Paradise! After our bride got to marry herself at her splendidly sugary wedding, she is now heading off to her tropical honeymoon getaway. Newly married to herself, she has flown off and is enjoying an escape from reality. Drunk on love and immigrant nostalgia, her paradise lies in an artificial realm, where contrary cultures collided and fused into one. Tropical heat, inflatable palm trees and foamy lotus flowers collaged into the sanctuary we long for. We were seeking shelter but transcended borders and artificially cured our homesickness. We built this fantasy because we couldn‘t bear to lose our homes. Come in and be swallowed by our immigrant nostalgia, indulge in collaged memories and gaze upon our sacred hybrid universe.”

ABOUT THE LABEL

Kitschy Couture is a celebration of diasporic identity! The designer and founder of the label Abarna Kugathasan explores the intimate tale of her transcultural self. Merging Sri Lankan roots, Tamil ancestry and a Western upbringing. She grew up watching her mother, who is a trained tailor for traditional Tamil womenswear garments, bring a piece of her Sri Lankan homeland to Germany through nothing but a simple household sewing machine. As a child of Tamil immigrants she is expressing her own identity and honouring cultural duality. The sugary landscape of Kitschy Couture uncovers the diasporic sense of longing and the meaning of homesickness. The lingerie inspired ruffly creations represent the trademark style of the German based label. Fusing traditional and contemporary influences the Tamil designer is crafting a dreamy fairytale through sculptural silhouettes. The alluring world of Kitschy Couture was featured in Vogue India spotlighting South Asian creativity and individuality. Followed by publications through i-D Magazine in France and Britain. From London, Chennai, Jamaica, Indore and back to Berlin, the label is travelling on a global editorial route, celebrating the kitschy fantasy on an international scale.

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MEDIA HUB.