Originating in China, the ancient art of Origami gradually made its way to Japan in the sixth century where it was quickly assimilated into the local culture. Literally meaning ‘paper folding,’ this intricate art involves making a small number of delicate and different geometric folds to create a variety of designs. “Origami is a part of the curriculum right from a child’s primary schooling,” observed maverick designer Manish Arora on a recent trip to the bustling city of Osaka. With each piece carefully folded into shape by hand, this ancient art form has remained much the same over the years. And therein also lies its charm, its uniqueness. Unaffected by mass production, origami masters can still be seen meticulously sculpting their creations in the narrow streets of Japan.

Last year, cult designer John Galliano gave his spring-summer ’07 collection for Christian Dior an unusual twist. Models pancaked in Geisha make-up walked the ramps draped in rich silk and taffeta kimono gowns, China-doll dresses and skirts in intense colours which popped even more by the dragonfly, lotus flower and butterfly hand sewn embroidery. Layers upon layers draped their bodies with significant geometric detailing at the hip and the neckline in the master’s ode to the art form. As always, anything Galliano touches turns into fashion gold; the theatrics proved to be a great success and sparked an international curiosity in origami.

Back home, Indian designers began taking note of the trend. In his latest collection Arora took inspiration from this crafty art form and created an array of carefully constructed jackets to complement his Indian pop art-inspired theme. “The concept is unusually interesting and quite a hot trend too. A lot of research went into these pieces, each of which has a story of its own,” explains Arora of his origami creations.

“Origami has immense possibilities,” says designer Anuj Sharma who presented his collection based on the principles of the art form at the recently held Lakmé India Fashion Week. It’s his belief that thinking of a garment in terms of beautiful embroidery or colour prevents the buyer from appreciating its actual potential. “Creating form by folding and tucking and most importantly not disturbing the original piece of paper or garment is a very challenging concept to work around,” he says. Using the same 110 x 180cm piece of fabric with piping at the edges to clearly highlight its movement, Sharma created some fabulously unique silhouettes he believes the Indian consumer, now more than ever, would love to experiment with.
Mumbai arts and crafts store, Hobby Ideas even created a special origami Ganesh to mark the celebration of the festival in an ongoing series to encourage its patrons to take up the art. With the trend picking up momentum among designers, soon everyone will know that flair is just a fold away.