There are designers who invent trends with each season and there are designers who like to ruminate on ideas and explore them to their last detail. Raw Mango’s Sanjay Garg falls in the latter category. The designer completes his 10th anniversary in the industry this year and just released possibly the only one collection he will be showcasing in 2018.

“If you look at my ‘Vana’ collection, it was very pastel, very day, and I thought, why not look at how flora and fauna looks at night? That was the thought behind the Midnight Collection. Things are exactly the same in the dark as they are in light, but you tend to perceive them differently,” he explains his ideology behind the line.

At first glance the collection looks like it comprises exclusively of black saris bearing florals, but upon closer inspection, each one has a distinct identity. “You can’t really tell colours in the night, which is what I wanted to bring about,” Garg says. There are deep blues, dark greens, charcoal greys, lights greys and black which make the backdrop for the flowers. Silk screen printing was the method used to recreate raat ki rani and dhaturas on the gossamer, hand woven saris. “On the organza saris, some of the print blurs out, like your vision is at night,” he continues.

To carry the thought through, the collection was shot in the middle of the night by Ashish Shah. In honour of the launch, Kiran Rao and Gayatri Rangachari Shah co-hosted a dinner for a select crowd with Garg. Anupama Chopra, Prerna Goel, Priyanka Bose, Lisa Ray were seen at the event. From the pavement outside, to the centrepiece of the table, the fragrance of fresh flowers lingered. Scroll through our gallery for more