Style Check (Aquatic Aesthetics)

Drench Your Wardrobe With Aquatic Fashion

From designers’ lookbooks to sun-baked sea beaches, aquatic fashion seems the current flavour of the season. Plunge headlong into its cool, breezy and colourful avatars like a true blue mermaid to discover its energising allure. Beach wear and aquatic patterns are turning on the heat with an elegant shade card, prints, themes and fabrics. Capture this fashion frenzy at fever pitch with your stylish pick. 

Photo Courtesy: Designer Anjali Phougat. All images comprise her works on aquatic fashion and some feature models clad in her designed outfits as well as herself in the frame.

BY PRAMITA BOSE

Water, water everywhere...echoing this widely-quoted line from eminent English poet Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s immortal poem The Rime of the Ancient Mariner, we can take creative liberties to tweak it a bit and say, “nor any drop to drink but plenty to wear”. For monsoon is at its peak now and it beckons big time with its beauty and a fresh fountain of showers for the thirsty, heated, parched earth. How about giving your wardrobe a monsoon makeover with a splash of aquatic prints and motifs to match the moistness and fluidity of the season?

Aqua Aura

Before the tiny rain droplets convert a pleasant cool drizzle into a heavy downpour, look for some inspiration from the abyss of the vast oceans and the marine life of sun-kissed yellow and white sandy beaches. If you are a water baby and love to swim to your heart’s content, get wet by importing liquid colours, patterns, textures and fabrics from the seabed. Dive deep into the aquatic world of wonders to gather shells, pebbles and pearls for your sartorial collection. Redefine your fashion sensibilities with an array of jaw-dropping aquatic elements in both your outfits and accessories.

Fashion is regularly filtered through the prism of creativity by designers and influencers to script an untold story every now and then on its glamorous avenues. Currently, aquatic prints are grabbing attention in the fashion landscape.

“Aquatic prints are stealing eyeballs due to their dreamy, flowy aesthetics and emotional connect. The world today craves escapism, serenity and firmer ties to the green nature — something that water symbolically offers and resonates with. Aquatic motifs evoke calmness, renewal and the melting quality to align with slow fashion and wellness-oriented lifestyles that many are now inclined to embrace. Designers globally are reimagining marine life, waves and oceanic forms as metaphors for freedom, transformation, sustainability and spiritual healing,” elucidates internationally-acclaimed fashion designer Anjali Phougat.

According to designer Masumi Mewawalla, “aquatic prints feel fresh, relaxing and nostalgic, which is exactly what people are yearning for right now. There’s something about the marine realm that instantly transports you to a different world and that kind of a getaway call fits beautifully into holiday or resort wardrobes.”

Aquatic fashion offers a reinvigorating, nature-inspired narrative that reverberates with today’s consumer — someone seeking peace, ease, plainness and bonding. “In a world full of digital noise and fast-paced living, these prints bring a sense of visual calm and a nod to slower, more organic moments. Plus, with growing conversations around sustainability, water as a life-giving and nurturing element nicely tightens the link with cruelty-free, eco-conscious fashion,” emphasises Mewawalla.

Comfy in Hot & Wet

Visibly, aquatic elements seem more compatible with summer and monsoon wear because of its easy-breezy vibe.

“Well, all things aquatic naturally and cosily harmonise with summery and rainy wardrobes owing to the climatic relevance since a hot, humid and muggy weather evokes waterscapes like beachsides, streams, cloudbursts, rainfall, floods or pools,” explains Phougat, who’s also the founder of her popular label Designer Dream Collection. Plus, there’s “a visual cooling effect of blue tones, wave-like patterns and marine textures that exude a psychological composure. Also, aquatic motifs pair well with feathery, lightweight and breathable fabrics like chiffon, georgette or cotton, ideal for a sultry weather,” she reasons ahead.

For the Beach Bums & Belles

A deluge of outfits for both men and women can best complement aquatic prints and motifs. Shopaholics can raid the racks to pick flowy kaftans with jellyfish or coral reef prints, saris in ombré blues with fish-scale sequins, co-ord sets with lotus or seaweed motifs, maxi dresses with underwater botanical prints for womenswear, et al. While in the menswear section, linen shirts with minimal anchor or wave motifs, beach shirts with abstract reef life, ocean-hued bandhgalas with subtle aquatic embroidery, printed bomber jackets with sea creature illustrations are seen fast flying off the shelves from malls and stores.

Motif Magic

Options for aquatic motifs are galore. A gallery of varieties is up for grabs among the enthusiastic clotheshorses. Fishes like koi, betta, goldfish, flying fish are often used in embroidered or watercolour-style prints.

In case of aquatic plants, seaweed, algae, lotus stems, mangroves appear hot favourites. Aquatic flowers, namely lotus, water lilies, blue poppies are being lapped up by all and sundry.

While on one hand, sea or oceanic creatures, such as jellyfish, turtles, dolphins, whales and starfish are largely dominating the canvas, on the other, maritime vessels or modes of transport like sailboats, ships, yachts, surfboards, paddle boats are piquing curiosity levels to woo prospective takers in the market. Incidentally, tools or merchandise for maritime activity like sea diving, snorkelling, water skiing, etc. already have fans jostling for outfits with imageries of snorkel masks, fins, diving suits, buoys and ropes embossed on their fabric surface. It is fascinating to note that aquatic topography like the ocean bed, geological features and marshy surfaces is also catching the industry couturiers’ fancy to manufacture exotic and extraordinary stuff from their stable.

Print Power

Some of the prints in aquatic fashion are simply crazy and out of the box. For instance, watercolour washes mimicking the sea’s gradient, fish-scale patterns using sequins or layered ruffles, botanical reef prints featuring seaweed and kelp, marine animal prints like octopus tentacles or turtle shells, nautical stripes reminiscent of sailor uniforms and wave motifs in digital prints or tie-and-dye style are making an inventor’s creative imagination run riot.

Fabric Feast

An eye-arresting spread of materials can most effortlessly flaunt and carry aquatic prints. Fabrics like chiffon and georgette (soft, smooth and buoyant, ideal for underwater-inspired drapes), organza (delicate and flimsy, reflecting the translucence of water), satin and silk (lend aquatic motifs a luminous, wave-like finish), linen and cotton (fine and wispy for coastal and resort styles), and last but not the least, mesh and net (imitating fishing nets or underwater textures) form an integral part of the aquatic display.

Colour Code

As water is the main element of aquatic fashion, the general perception is that the colour palette should be predominantly blue. However, there is a surge of inquisitiveness about other earthy hues or shades drawn from the colour spectrum that also look promising to match aquatic fashion.

“It’s true that the blue tint (in turquoise, navy or aquamarine tones) is central to the palette but other complementary dyes include green for seaweed, algae and underwater flora, pearl white and silver for shells and foam, coral pink and sunset orange for reef life and tropical aesthetics, sand beige and driftwood brown for coastal harmony and finally, lavender and sea-glass tinges for fantasy-infused collections, among others,” informs Phougat.

Coastal Couture

It is beyond doubt that beach apparel can augment your sex appeal and nail the colourful aquatic prints in style. The beach mermaids can raise the mercury level with their oomph quotient and intensify the seaside sunny radiance by slipping into swimwear with sea creature motifs, cover-ups in sheer aquatic plant patterns, resort jumpsuits with coral reef illustrations, kaftans with ombré sea-to-sky transitions as well as hats and flip-flops featuring wave or dolphin prints.

Nautical Flair

Aquatic elements are also part of nautical or coastal style aesthetic inspired by seaside and seafaring culture that mostly mirror sailors’ and naval officers’ attire. Interestingly, aquatic fashion can seamlessly merge a marine staffer’s classy clothing with charming aquatic prints.

“This graceful fusion is what you call a happy marriage between utility and storytelling. The unique blending celebrates maritime history by combining marine biodiversity with fashion designs,” remarks Phougat.

Nautical jackets with embroidered sea maps or compass roses, navy-style shirts with anchor buttons and fish-scale jacquard, sailor pants with rope-style tassels and coral embroidery, caps or epaulettes featuring shell or wave detailing are a few noteworthy examples.

Mewawalla too admits that marine-inspired uniforms can be beautifully blended with aquatic fashion. “I absolutely love that mix! Marine uniforms coalesced with aquatic prints creates a sharp, fashion-forward aesthetic,” she avers.

Picture a structured navy blazer with anchor-embossed buttons, further styled with coral-printed trousers or a crisp sailor-collar shirt featuring soft wave or reef embroidery. Even marine-style jumpsuits or boiler suits can be elevated with subtle fish-scale textures or sea plant panels.

“It’s a great balance of structure and fluidity, bringing together the discipline of nautical tailoring with the storytelling of aquatic elements. It also gives the traditional ‘eternally sober’ sailor vibe a more playful and updated spin that still feels timeless yet very trendy,” comments Mewawalla.

Assortment of Accessories

A slew of accessories can aptly get along with aquatic fashion. “Accessorising trappings really breathe a fresh lease of life into aquatic clothing,” shares Mewawalla.

Think of shell or pearl jewellery, sea-inspired hair clips and breezy tote bags in jute or canvas. Strappy flats or espadrilles are great to ooze out a casual air but for a dressier look. If you’re an adventurous nomad, go for clear or pastel-toned heels as they add that soft, oceanic feel without being too loud. Raffia hats, scarves with wave or coral prints and marine-themed statement earrings like starfish or coral branches also render a warm, lovely touch to one’s getup.

“These little accents help complete the story of an outfit like a fairytale,” she concludes.

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