Spectacle reigned supreme on day five of the LFW. The ramp saw plenty of drama, not just in the choreography, but also in the clothes themselves. The silhouettes also shifted from the Western to the ethnic as the day progressed.
The morning shows by Atithi Gupta, Manju Agarwal and Smrit saw a heavy use of black, with only occasional forays into shades of green and blue. The outfits remained decidedly Western, with dresses, trousers and skirts being presented by all three designers. Smriti’s line, however, had a dose of checks, primarily in black and bright red, thrown in as a counterpoint to the stark black of her line.
Then it was all blazes ahead for high fashion with Jatin Varma’s post-lunch show. From the time Jatin’s showstarter in a beautiful white evening gown with crystal embellished bands across the bust and shoulder, walked on to the ramp, the audience was hooked. He proceeded to plop a pillow and lounge right down on the stage as models in glitzy dresses and gowns showed off the remainder of the line. Jatin’s use of pigment-printed white sequins drew a lot of praise as did his showstopper outfit — a glitzy, short black sequinned dress with dramatic puffed sleeves. Jatin said his collection was for the “edgy, strong woman, messed up in her head.”
“The construction and fluidity of the designs is supposed to be reminiscent of the way you navigate through a maze,” he said.
Then it was time for the highly dramatic creations of Vivek Kumar, whose “animatronix — a mixture of animation and electronics” themed show generated a fair amount of interest. On the ramp were seen a completely mechanised satchel, sequins in patterns resembling mechanical gears and Sucheta Sharma in a battery-operated dress that lifted the outer sheath of the outfit into a tent-like shape! The designer said his outfit was aimed at “rockstars” and was “completely washable once the electronic parts were removed from the designated slot”.
The late afternoon shows moved the focus firmly to Indian silhouettes, with the lines by AbhiRahul, Paromita Banerjee and Soltee.
AbhiRahul’s line of anarkalis and lehengas used bright shades of orange and pink, featuring a sari in beige with red velvet cutwork teamed with a long jacket. Calling the line “very bling”, Rahul Singh of AbhiRahul said, “This line was inspired by Aurangzeb’s daughter.”
Anjana Sukhani, their showstopper, admitted that she felt every inch the Mughal princess in a low cut, shimmery silver and pink choli and lehenga. After the gloss of AbhiRahul, Paromita Banerjee’s line was very low-key and a complete standout. Odhnis inspired by the gamcha print, tie and dye kurtas in fabrics like khadi, tussar silk, mangalkaris and cotton. Leaves, flowers and trees in brightly coloured thread were the predominant motif on Paromita’s clothes, which the designer said were for the “eco-friendly bride.”
Sulakshana’s line for Soltee, however, was a stra-nge mish-mash of textures and fabrics, with electronic accessories and giant safety pins used as eccentric broo-ches holding the draped outfits together.
The attention shifted to the accessories with the evening shows by Eina Ahluwalia, Malini Agarwalla, Rohan Arora and Suhani Pittie. If big bright baubles worn as neckpieces were the hallmark of Eina’s show, clutches and purses with multicoloured stripes and motifs as diverse as a Kathakali dancer’s face were Malini’s. Also seen were shoes of all sorts, with checks, crenellated heels, boots with yellow fabric wrapped around the ankles by Rohan Arora.
The week was set to end on a decidedly high note with Neeta Lulla and Malini Ramani’s “Gypsy” themed show scheduled for the night, promising a fitting end to the fashion extravaganza.
Celebrity Mandira Bedi was also seen at the accessories show and Sophie Chowdhari was the show stopper for Malini Agarwal.