In 1885, Czar Alexander III gifted his wife Maria Fedorovna an Easter egg as a 20th anniversary gift. It was no ordinary Easter egg: Its enamel white shell opened to reveal a golden yolk within, which itself opened to reveal a small hen figurine, which held a replica of the Imperial crown inside, made in diamonds with a ruby pendant suspended from it. Thus was the first Faberge egg crafted, and successive ones have continued to enthral the world as much as the original did Maria Fedorovna.

Perhaps it was the spirit of the first Faberge egg too that caused the audience to lean forward in their seats, on Day 4 of the Lakme Fashion Week, Mumbai, and watch with bated breath, as model Rachel Bayros turned a knob on a small jaali door set into a large golden egg which hung from a thick gold rope around her neck. Crafted by accessories designer Eina Ahluwalia, the egg was just one sumptuous design among the many others in her collection titled Forgotten Jewel. Tinier eggs strung together on multiple gold strands, matte gold flowers that crept up a slender arm, large gold filigree hearts beating with red veins and multiple monocles worked with an eye motif, that could be taken off to reveal other monocles, and pendant boxes that opened into other boxes — Eina’s line was heavy with symbolism. The designer said the collection was a reminder of “the most precious jewel — one that you already own and may have forgotten — the golden light within”.
Showcasing along with Eina was Payal Singhal with her Summer Brides line. Payal said she had been inspired by “the fragrances of summer weddings: Jasmine and turmeric” and there was plenty of summer in the predominantly off-white colour tone of her creations. There were patialas in deep green with a gold paisley print, embellished anarkalis and churidar-kurtas with a sheer overlay, and even a few Western silhouettes like a jumpsuit with a jewelled collar and a cocktail dress.
Payal and Eina’s show had been preceded by the morning shows of Ruchika Sachdev, Nupur Kanoi and Shashank and Prajwal. Ruchika’s line for her label Bodice carried forward the work she has been doing over the previous seasons, with lots of androgynous touches and architectural, industrial influences thrown in. Nupur’s on the other hand, was called The Kundalini Project and was decidedly more indigenous in its look. Post-lunch, the 3 pm slot was taken up by Neha Agarwal and Rimi Nayak.
Neha brought autumn into the Summer-Resort season, with her imprint of leaves in hues of black and white, red, blue and green, on dresses, skirts, saris and a combination of a dhoti-sari drape. Rimi’s line — titled Insect in My Closet — showed plenty of promise. Saris, scarves and tunics worked with a motif of ants and other insets made for a refreshing collection, which worked all the colours in the spectrum, from grey to fuchsia pink, blue and forest green. However, the pieces that the collection ended with (cocktail dresses in metallic shades) induced a sense of Déja vu. “The collection draws inspiration from a plethora of insects and delves into their wondrous world,” Rimi said.
The evening shows of Siddharth Tyler and Swapnil Shinde saw a packed house, with quite a few celeb faces like Mugdha Godse, Gayatri Joshi Oberoi and Anushka Manchanda gracing the front row. While Siddharth presented a line of apparel with digital prints and discreet sequin work (with a poised Sonali Bendre as a showstopper), Swapnil’s work went down paths he has travelled before: Solid corsets with accentuated shoulders and waists imparting a robotic look.