Shamaeel showcased a trio of her collections at the Savile Club in London recently, ranging from three eras of majestic Royals -The Tudors, The Ottomans & The Mughals!
She is known as artisan in her own right with pieces she creates with such art form, that it cannot be described as anything more than phenomenal, and like art, each piece is a collectible.
The Tudors: Inspired from the classic to the contemporary using the 15th and 16th Century as inspiration to show how the past influences the present in life, in experiences, in style and lifestyle, each dynasty created its own textile narrative finding beauty in nature. Every stroke of art and embellishment was an ode to nature reflecting perfect harmony, fashion cautious societies where textiles were primarily designed by artists achieving illusion of reality. The most interesting part of this collections history is, that congregations were led by queens personally designing and overlooking patterns particular to their eras. A teaching in textile which has been passed on from generation to generation. Mostly, Queen Elizabeth reigned this collection – She was the first women in tudor history to be educated through private tutors and it is under her rule that England underwent a period of enlightenment and renaissance
The Ottomans: This part of the variety in the collection showed experimentation and a metamorphosis of different crafts and colours. Crossing time barriers, she payed homage to the sultanate of queens – from Hurrem Sultan, Noor Bano Sultan, Safiya Sultan & Kosum Sultan. The vibrant blues of the bosphorus & enigmatic Iznic tiles of the ottomans harems brings the luxury and enigmatic feel to each piece. The ikats of central asia were used to enhance a method of antique weaves into modern silhouettes to wear using a flash of pinks and reds in a playful, charming and romantic manner to signify the essence of the nature of queens as an interpretation of the plethora of cultures each Queen brought with her.
And all the way to the Mughals in South Asia: The motifs were inspired by the chaand baalis, pomegranate tree stems and flowers as layering of sartorial lifestyle, which speak of positivity, fertility and movement of generations. Mostly, this part of the collection was inspired by Noor jehan – a fashion icon of her era, who moved the textile narrative of the mughals from mongal and tribal to regality, her own sense of the 9 jewels of court, feminism, beauty and drape influenced her sartorial depictions. She involved her daughter Ladli Begum and together, mother and daughter curated collections for the womens’ darbaar. This form of regality today is the mughals couture. What’s more interesting to see is how she plays with coral, emerald, and a beautiful shade of red to highlight the 9 jewels of the Akbar Nama.
