In 'FORME' — a collection by Twinkle Hanspal created in collaboration with creative director Doyel Joshi — floral motifs become a metaphorical extension of the tension and ease the collection embodies through its fabrics.

Inspired by the work of Irish artist Francis Bacon, who subverted the dominant style of abstraction of his era in favour of an otherworldly, almost unsettling realism, the collection draws from his exploration of the body as an extension of the mind. In Bacon’s work, an unsettled mind led to an unsettled body — disjointed, distorted and blurred figures that dissolved the boundaries between reality and abstraction to create something vividly unique. FORME channels this compositional language, zooming into the intimate gestures of the body — the arch of the neck, the bend of the spine as one leans from a chair. The collection examines the body as both subject and structure, focusing on the bones and joints that make it whole.

The collection features garments designed to drape and knot around the body, sitting against the skin in a way that evokes both control and freedom. Its colour palette is soft yet striking; even the use of black and white works to sculpt the body’s natural silhouette. FORME shines in its attention to the pressure points the body naturally creates, examining the inherent push and pull of movement and form.

Set within a bare-back, almost austere environment, the presentation avoids any excess, allowing shape to take precedence. Silhouettes emerge sharply against this backdrop, where the absence of distraction makes even the smallest gestures feel deliberately considered. The garments aren't overwhelmed, as the setting gives them the room to breathe and take shape into whatever form they wish to. 

Throughout the collection, the garments investigate the architecture of the body and the visual world surrounding them expands this understanding, examining how bodies occupy space and how emotion can be translated into form. There is an observational intimacy to this collection’s language that is woven into its very form and fabric. 

Twinkle Hanspal and Doyel Joshi’s, FORME, is a meditation on understanding tension and the emotional terrain it lies within. The collection puts together the mind and body, like Bacon did. Through the different movements portrayed, the collection speaks about a feeling that is usually hard to pinpoint, but always easy to feel.

Follow Twinkle Hanspal and Doyel Joshi on Instagram.

If you enjoyed reading this, here’s more from Homegrown:

Live From New York, House of Santal Is Challenging How The West Sees South Asian Craft

Rahasya’s New Campaign By Pranoy Sarkar Pays Homage To India’s Perfume Heritage

Abhishek Khedekar’s Photoseries Explores The Lives Behind The Tamasha Folk Tradition