MUMBAI: Anjali Phougat feels overwhelmed for being invited to the Global Short Film Awards in Cannes. The fashion designer and humanitarian will be presenting her designs at the prestigious event.
 
“It’s an honour to represent India on such a platform. I’m working very closely with my team to create a jewellery line and customise outfits for the show. We are following a certain theme, neutral colour palettes with a lot of pastel hues, florals, because it's summer time. We'll be using a lot of crystal Indian zardozi work. For both the couture and jewellery line I’m excited and looking forward to the event,” she says.

On the kind of exposure she is hoping for, Anjali adds, “Film and fashion event is a unique A-list film festival. It's an event largely reserved for film fraternity, film industry professionals and the Press. The screening and entry to the official venue is tightly controlled and the vast majority of the festival limits the general public. Cannes is a very old event and many famous personalities globally visit this festival every year. I am looking for great exposure and building new connections.”

Anjali has earlier been a part of big fashion events like New York Fashion Week, but believes this one to be different. She was invited to Cannes last year but due to the pandemic the event was postponed to 2021.
 
“Since we got a full year to work on our collection, we worked really hard to make it better and prettier. It's too early to disclose the complete theme of the collection but yes we got plenty of time to improve our collection… I strongly believe that being at such a huge place and having an elegant and understanding audience will help us get attention. We also have a creative vision and amazing ideas to present our collection. The idea is to do more than what the audience might expect and surprise them. This feels like a new journey,” she says.
 
Since Cannes as a city is synonymous to film and fashion, we ask if her collection will be high on glamour and fashion, and she answers in affirmative.
 
“Indeed, it’s going to be elegant, sophisticated, classy, super chic yet minimal and comfortable. If you look at the designs on runway or gala events they are beautiful gowns with huge trails, intricate fabric… we'll be doing all those things keeping our models in mind and make sure they are comfortable throughout the event because designing and looking good is one thing but making sure that whoever is wearing it and thinking to buy that collection they need to be comfortable throughout the journey. As far as the jewellery collection is concerned, I’m excited to present our Indian gemstones and its heritage… There will be emeralds, rubies, polkies, pearls etc. We will also try some fusion,” she ends.