A REVELATION. That’s what day two of the LFW Winter/Festive season was. With one beautiful line after another unveiled to the delight of the packed ballroom at the Grand Hyatt, where the LFW is being held, fashion lovers were in for a treat.
The morning saw emerging designers Amalraj Sengupta, Harangad Singh and Shrivan Narresh showcase their creations. While Harangad’s line was a continuation of his sensibilities of classy, feminine dresses, ShrivanNarresh added to their maillots with enhanced shoulders and necklines with trousers, jumpsuits and cutaway skirts and jackets.
With the crowds swelling for the afternoon show, it was time for some serious fashion. First up were two whirling Sufi dancers who heralded Babita Malkhani’s Ravishing Earth line.
“This line was inspired by a trip to Kapadokia in Turkey. It’s one of the most beautiful places that nature has ever created,” enthused Babita, whose creations included plenty of beige, blue and brown coming together in see through tunics, pants and draped gowns. Showstopper Pooja Batra walked out on the ramp in one of Babita’s gowns, upping the oomph factor.
Kashmira Shah, Suchitra Pillai, Bandana Tiwari and Sabina Singh were in the front row for the show by Babita M and the Urban Vagabond collection by Vivek Karunakaran. Gothic chic got a feminine twist as flounced skirts and dresses were paired with ankle and calf-length boots. The palette changed from black and grey to purple in a line that Vivek admitted had been dramatised for the ramp. “Our prêt collection is more toned down,” the designer said, adding, “The line signifies a traveller wandering through space; the things that he sees, whether it’s concrete blocks or paddy fields is what the textures of the line represent.”
The afternoon of day two of LFW saw celebs like the post-lunch session which saw Little Shilpa present her much-applauded accessory line, with stocking stretched over wire to resemble whorls of flower petals. In a gender bender of sorts, the men were adorned with the same delicately gauzy confections that the women were.
Then it was time for another dose of Goth, with Sailex’s line of short velvet skirts and jackets, embellished with gold chains. A gold double-breasted jacket-dress, gowns and jumpsuits paired with embellished, military style jackets and epaulettes on the shoulders were presented to striking effect by the shy, diminutive designer.
Elegant lines reminiscent of a bygone era then appeared on the ramp in Ninon Palisse’s creations for fashion house Vizyon. A layered jacket in a tulle-like fabric with a thin belt to cinch in the waist, sweeping white skirts, sari-gowns in shocking pink and white, gowns with embellished bands around the bust and shoulder, all helped create the “whimsical, sophisticated style statement, celebrating feminity and womanhood” that Vizyon creative director Shradha Muraka said they were aiming for.
High collared masculine jackets in stark black, worn with deep orange gloves formed the mainstay of Arjun Saluja’s TIGI catwalk show choreographed by Marc Robinson. The hairdos were severe and straight, the lips fire engine red. Surlee Joseph rocked in a short black kimono dress, while Nethra Raghuraman wore a nun-like gown with soft feminity.
The austereness of Arjun’s designs was broken by quirky details on cuffs and shoulders. “We wanted to create a razor-sharp look, all about angularity and shapes and following the body’s contours,” said Arjun. Haseena Jethmalani, dressed in a sari, gave front row support to Arjun.