Haute couture (and the Mizo)

Mizo youths are increasingly becoming more adventurous when it comes to exploring career choices. Today, the fashion industry has become a much sought after sector even amongst young Mizo men and women though it was not considered a viable vocation a few decades ago.

The recently held Fashion Expose by Mizo Niftians Association is one such manifestation of the growing popularity, and the sincerity and passion with which the world of fashion is embraced by aspiring fashion designers. 

The Fashion Expose exhibited collections by ten young designers who have graduated from the different National Institute of Fashion Technology across the country. The designers include names which are already well-known as well as debutants  - Susan R. Ralte, C. Lalramhlui, Barnadean Hmar, Lalrinsangi Ralte, Lalfakzuali (Afaki Hauhnar), Felnunmawii (Mawipuii), Maisie Rodingpuii, Lalremmawii (Sentei), Christina Lalmalsawmi and Lalruathlui (Mami).

the designers (three missing in the picture)

On 21^st October 2016, carefully handpicked and trained models walked the ramp to make history as the Expose by Mizo Niftian Association is the first of its kind. The recently launched Mizo Niftian Association (MNA) aims to create a platform for Mizo designers from NIFT to showcase their work.

 The talented 36 models (30 female, 6 male) walking the runway also testify to the professionalism that has seeped into the fashion scene in Mizoram. The freshness and vibrancy of all the collections kept the audience mesmerized.

Hollywood Glamour by Barnadean Hmar

Here are a few pieces by Felnunmawii (Mawipuii) a 2016 fashion graduate from NIFT Delhi. Though a recent graduate, she has quite a bit of experience in the field of fashion as a freelance designer for consultancies and as a freelance content writer for thecollective.in. She also runs her own fashion blog called Mawipuiloves (Mawipuiloves.blogspot.in)

Mawipuii's label

Brought up and educated outside her homestate Mizoram, the influence of the different cultures she has been exposed to is evident in her collection. The non-Mizo acquaintances she has made over the years and her observations of their cultures have heavily influenced her aesthetics. Her collection also reflects her personal style.

Mawipuii - the night of the Expose

Some of her creations

Mawipuii targets the urban tribe with her creations, seeking to make items of clothing that may be worn both formally and casually, depending on how her clients choose to mis-match them with other pieces of clothings.


Young, talented and driven, Mawipuii is certainly one to watch out for!!

GRANNY’S STORIES

“Your grandfather was a good man;

Hardworking, wise, generous, capable.”

My granny never tires telling me.

Days which are long, slow and lazy

Would see her spinning intricate stories

One after the other, of days long past.

She was just a young woman in 1966

When the peace and harmony of her homeland

Was shattered into pieces, like a broken mirror

Whose pieces reflect myriad shades of pain

Memories of the ravenous next two decades

Haunt her stories, stories she tells today.

Gunshots, curfews, airstrikes, grouping of villages

Loss of lives and properties, and relationships

Displacement, alienation, insecurities

Were then the nightmares all so real.

But through it all, she found love and hope

In a man, the hero of her stories.

Today, all that remain of the past are pictures

Memories, and the scars that refuse to heal.

Her past, however, is not hers alone

She was me yesterday, as I am her today

Her history is my history; her pain is my pain

Her future, my future; her Mizoram, my Mizoram.

And days which are long, slow and lazy

Would see my granny lost in thought

Of cherished memories, and hopes for me.

“Your grandfather was a good man;

Hardworking, wise, generous, capable.

I hope you find a man just like him."

KINDNESS

Kindness is the name of the story
that tells of a stray dog
with a fractured limb
fed, bathed, brushed
and loved.

Kindness is the gospel
that takes the wretched
to a land of no suffering
and pain, and tears
even if just for a while.

Kindness is the loose change
that completes the deal
between two souls.
A deal left incomplete
brings out arms.

Kindness is the song
that sings of love, for all.
color, age, status, caste, religion,
language and sexuality
no bars, just love.

Kindness is the compass
that sets sail a sailor of life
towards a sunken ship
with a life-jacket
and a bottle of fresh water.

Kindness sometimes rises in the west
to set in the east
on the days
it leaves its orbit
to visit cold miserable Pluto.

CURSE

Let's reverse the curse that threatens your happiness
and free you from the clutches of the knowledge
that prisons you in a cell of confusion and self-doubt

Let's flirt and make love with your demons,
and dance with them tide after tide
till dawn chases them away for good

Nobody has to be alone, unless they choose to be
if you unleash the rainbow and its magical colors
they will eclipse the horrors of the violent storm

Do not fear what might or might not be, today or ever
the destruction you think inevitable
is no greater than two hands fiercely intertwined

May each beat of your heart serve to remind you
that sometimes there is no right or wrong,
just hope. Let's reverse the curse, together.

FOUR

Four is the dreary intensity
Of shock, of anguish, of despair, of questions,
Of self-blame.


What if, what if, what if, what if


unwanted phone calls
uninvited knocks on the door
unsolicited bad news


Four hearts, four faces, four smiles
Four pairs of feet, four pairs of hands
Four into ten fingers
Four into ten toes
Four innocent lives,
Four loved souls.


When four becomes pain
Mizo men and women, young and old
Rise to the occasion
Amidst rain, discomfort, cold, hunger


Four may be a hurt unparalleled 
But it will never stand for solitude
Here in the land of the Zo people
For as long as the sons and daughters of the soil
Remember the narratives of 'tlawmngaihna'
Whispered by the spirits of their ancestors.


When four becomes vague memories
Faint smiles and faded pictures
When four becomes hushed warnings
By concerned parents
In the mortal world


Four will be immortal
At the feet of their Saviour
Playmates of angels for eternity.


Four new smiles 
To make the stars brighter
Up there.



In memory of the four Mizo children aged between 4 to 10 who got swept away by a flash flood while they were playing on a riverbank in Ramthar, a locality in Aizawl. Their bodies were eventually recovered by search parties organized by the YMA (Young Mizo Association).