Day 2 at Lakme Fashion Week began with emerging designer Nitya Arora’s Valliyan label inspired by the art deco influences of 1920. Nitya captured the architectural essence of the era through her accessories. Teamed up with simple, straight cut black outfits, the ornaments — mainly consisting of glass, crystals, semi-precious stones, copper and brass — stood out against the dark backdrop. Gold chains, chokers, danglers and shoulder dusters dominated the accessories collection.
Next in line was Karishma Shahani Khan’s Bollywood-inspired collection. A burst of colour on the ramp, albeit in pastel shades, Karishma’s Maya collection was an attempt at merging Western ideologies and Eastern aesthetics. Heavily layered, the collection was dominated by natural fabrics and gave a breezy feel despite the multiple layers.
Ken Fern’s collection stayed true to the designer’s name with prints of ferns and plants splashed through the collection. Dominated by light colours such as ivory white, dusty beige and shades of grey, Ken’s Moon Rise collection was inspired by the sounds and moods of the night. Peter Pan collars and Peplum-styled cuts were a common feature in all of the outfits.
Bollywood actors Pratiek and Amyra Dastur walked the ramp as the showstoppers.
The next show started off with designer Little Shilpa living up to her quirky styles. An interesting mix of South Indian sari complimented with men’s shirts — both featuring checks, the collection named Grey Matter asserted the designer’s signature out-of-the-box style. It was complimented by eccentric headgears that gave the collection and the ramp, a dramatic makeover.
Next in line, Sougat Paul’s Soup collection was an antithesis to the previous one given its very elegant and understated styles in pastels shades. A wearable collection off the ramp, it was feminine and chick.
Kommal Sood’s Phoenix In Paradise and Rajat Tangri’s Glamour of The Dark Ages followed with each designer showcasing an edgy and dark collection. “The collection is converging Gothic, Byzantine and baroque essence to chronicle a modern day tension between darkness, the sacred and the inspirational. Intense emotional expression and repression blend together in these creations: beyond dark and light, a time of monsters and thrones, great struggles and brilliant craft interpreted for now. My collection have interesting colour palette like oxblood red, emerald and antique gold coalesce with black slate and teal to create signature red carpet silhouettes,” says Rajat who had Bollywood actor Randeep Hooda as the showstopper.
Next in line, designer Shehlaa Khan introduced a deeper and bolder hued collection named Tale of the Unexpected which draws inspiration from the designer’s love of fairy tales. “The silhouettes are rather bold, an element of structure exists in almost every look, representing royalty along with contemporary feminine grace and regality,” she explains.
Actress Jacqueline Fernandes graced the ramp for Shehlaa.
Lastly, breaking away from the trend on the ramp, Sailex introduced monochromatic outfits in exuberant shades of pinks and oranges giving the ramp an instant face lift.