5 days Ago By Namya Sinha
There are few Indians who can boast of inspiring an entire collection by legacy fashion houses. In the first half of the 20th century, this was perhaps unheard of. But Indian royals from the erstwhile Princely States had the resources to travel to foreign shores and a standing in elite social circles.
Princess Sita Devi of Kapurthala (1915–2002), also known as Princess Karam, was the daughter of Maharaja Raja Uday Raj Singh of Kashipur, Uttarakhand. She married Prince Karamjit Singh, the younger son of Maharaja Jagatjit Singh of Kapurthala. She was a Rajput Hindu princess who married into Sikh royalty and was just 13 years old at the time of her marriage.
She was home-schooled and studied Sanskrit, German, Italian, Mathematics, and History, eventually becoming fluent in five languages. The royal family of Kapurthala was known for their love of Europe, as Jagatjit Singh was a Francophile. This affinity for Europe gave Princess Karam the opportunity to travel abroad, with her first trip taking place in 1934.
Her beauty quickly became the talk of the town, making her a favourite subject of society columns in newspapers. She also became a muse for renowned photographers such as Cecil Beaton and Man Ray. It was no surprise, then, that the beautiful Princess Karam inspired Italian fashion designer Elsa Schiaparelli.
In 1934, she arrived in the fashion capital of the world, Paris, dressed in a saree. A piece published in the French Vogue in April 1935 offers insights into the dominant trends of the time and the place of the saree among them. Listing the major influences on Parisian fashion, the article mentions “an Indian princess who spent a day among us,” according to The Sari in Paris Fashion: 1910 to 1940 by Jaya Mishra.
In Frocking Life: Searching for Elsa Schiaparelli, BillyBoy writes, “The 1935 season started with a fashion show radio broadcast to America. She called the silhouette Celestial, and it featured pleated dresses and dress saris. A clever Sherlock Holmes could have predicted the upcoming fashion tendencies by looking carefully at an April 1935 Vogue photo of Schiap in her office.
.." He adds, “The year before, Princess Karam de Kapurthala had visited Paris for the first time.
Madame Grès recalled to me how she and Schiaparelli found inspiration in her beauty and dress, with Schiap focusing on ‘the embroideries, the colours, and the details...
. the chic was in her baroque usage of Indian lavishness.’” Indian royalty were coveted customers for fashion and jewellery houses, and Schiaparelli successfully counted the Maharani among her clientele.
Princess Karam purchased 12 ensembles, including an entire wardrobe for her daughter. The collection featured gowns paired with “India trousers” (resembled harem pants) to be worn underneath, as well as saree dresses. One of the first Schiaparelli ensembles illustrated by Christian Berard in Vogue was a saree of plum chiffon with orange accents.
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