Getting dressed as a guest attending a dinner party is one thing. Getting dressed when you are the host is a whole other: you need to wear something you can cook and entertain—like, really cook and entertain—in. You can’t wear anything with sleeves that are too long, lest they get caught in a sauce (or worse). Expose too much skin, however, and you’re at risk of a burn. Then, you also want to wear something a little special—this is a party after all—but not impractical. You’ll be moving around the entire evening, and the stain risk is high.
Luckily, Autumn Sonata has just the thing.
The New York and Amsterdam based design studio, founded by Lili Elias, just released a limited edition drop of what they describe as a“dinner party kaftan” with Serendipity Delhi. Elias first discovered the New Delhi-based lifestyle store—which is known as one of the most beautiful in the world—at a trade show after she spied one of their kaftans hanging on a rack from across the room. After begging to buy it, she struck up a friendship with founder Kuldeep Kaur and brand head Gurmeet Kaur. They kept in touch over the years, and one day, Elias and the Kaurs agreed to create something together.
Elias already had a concept in mind. A frequent entertainer, she always struggled on what to wear as she cooked for her friends and family: “I love having dinner parties all the time for any occasion—but I always have a hard time getting dressed, because I ve been cooking all day and so you don’t want to wear something that s uncomfortable,” she says. “So that’s where the idea of creating the dinner party kaftan came to life.”
The Serendipity Delhi for Autumn Sonata Marta kaftan is made out of raw silk, a creative choice meant to elevate the design and make it feel less daytime or “associated with the beach,” says Elias. It comes in the rich colors of saffron and a burnt sienna—the latter of which was inspired by a historical Chinese silk colorway Elias saw on display at the Cooper Hewitt Design Museum. “I thought that these shimmering, deep colors and materials made it really captivating while still being easy to wear,” she notes.
Indeed, the kaftans do include a number of deeply functional features: in addition to their roomy cut, Elias and Serendipity Delhi also decided to make them with long sleeves—to protect your arm while over the stove—but with a button, so you can easily roll them up if need be. (Naturally, there are also pockets.) Meanwhile, the cutout neckline and darted bodice prevent it from being dowdy.
Women long have been looking for comfortable yet flattering outfits to wear while at home: the term “house dress” originated in the 19th century to describe the garments worn by housewives while doing chores and running errands, and reached a fashionable fever-pitch with Clare McCardell’s 1942 “popover” dress that could be worn both at home and for social occasions beyond them. (The design sits in the Metropolitan Museum Art’s Costume Institute Collection.) Meanwhile, Middle Eastern women have long worn abayas—loose-fitting, robe-like garments—for reasons both religious and practical, and contemporary iterations are often adorned in laces, crystals, and intricate embroidery. Then look at the kaftan itself, which dates back to the very earliest ancient civilizations in Mesopotamia.
So Autumn Sonata and Serendipity Delhi’s design? It’s just the latest addition to a long-ranging, culture-spanning clothing canon. “It really is the perfect outfit for the host,” she says.
