گلرنگ
GULRANG
Blossom of Colour
Gulrang — gul, the flower; rang, the colour. The old Farsi word for a whole garden held in a single length of cloth.
Peshawar · Kabul · One size · Made to order
Peshawar · Kabul
By commission — £2,400
Made to order · one size · six to eight weeks
A fitted bodice covered in mirror and sequin work sits above rows of silver coins at the waist, then the skirt opens into alternating vertical panels — white dense with multicoloured floral embroidery, turquoise with allover sequin.
The hem is built in layers: pink, turquoise and floral bands stacked one above the next, finished with a fringe of silver coins that moves and sounds as you walk.
Fitted turquoise upper sleeves give way to sheer white embellished balloon lower sleeves. A matching turquoise dupatta completes it.
We take on a small number of commissions each season. A member of the atelier will write to you personally.
- Hand-embroidered panelled skirt
- Mirror, sequin and silver coin embellishment
- Sheer embellished dupatta included
- Fully lined
- Approx. 300 hours of embroidery
Peshawar · Kabul
By commission — £2,400
Made to order · one size · six to eight weeks
A fitted bodice covered in mirror and sequin work sits above rows of silver coins at the waist, then the skirt opens into alternating vertical panels — white dense with multicoloured floral embroidery, turquoise with allover sequin.
The hem is built in layers: pink, turquoise and floral bands stacked one above the next, finished with a fringe of silver coins that moves and sounds as you walk.
Fitted turquoise upper sleeves give way to sheer white embellished balloon lower sleeves. A matching turquoise dupatta completes it.
We take on a small number of commissions each season. A member of the atelier will write to you personally.
- Hand-embroidered panelled skirt
- Mirror, sequin and silver coin embellishment
- Sheer embellished dupatta included
- Fully lined
- Approx. 300 hours of embroidery
I · The Name
گلرنگ — بهارِ باغ
Where the name comes from
The Mughal miniatures painted at Kabul and Lahore treat colour as inheritance: a peach for the throat, a turquoise for the sleeve, a green kept for the borders of the world.
Gulrang is the same argument, made in thread. Every panel is a garden bed. The coins at the waist are the sound of walking through it.
هر گل که در چمن است، از رنگِ اوست
Har gul ke dar chaman ast, az rang-e oost —
"Every flower in the garden borrows its colour from her."
— Persian couplet
II · The Cloth
How it is made
A fitted bodice covered in mirror and sequin work sits above rows of silver coins at the waist, then the skirt opens into alternating vertical panels — white dense with multicoloured floral embroidery, turquoise with allover sequin.
The hem is built in layers: pink, turquoise and floral bands stacked one above the next, finished with a fringe of silver coins that moves and sounds as you walk.
Fitted turquoise upper sleeves give way to sheer white embellished balloon lower sleeves. A matching turquoise dupatta completes it.
III · The Wearing
One size, cut in the Afghan way
Cut one size, drawn in at the waist by the coin belt itself — the belt is the fit. Panels fall from the natural waist, so the silhouette reads long on any wearer.
For weddings. Nothing smaller than a wedding.
Every Gulālai dress is one size. It is the older tradition — the fit is found in the sash, the fall of the sleeve, the shoulder line. The garment answers to the body, not the other way round.
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