India's fashion trend report

Now that Summer’s over and winter is almost here, we bring you the best of winter fashion from Indian runways. Check out the top ten trends you’ll be wearing later this year and style yourself the way the pros do it.

Now that Summer’s over and winter is almost here, we bring you the best of winter fashion from Indian runways. Check out the top ten trends you’ll be wearing later this year...

3D and Cut-outs
The other realm remained a favourite with many designers as they explored conical wooden corsets (Alpana & Neeraj), Japanese embroidered basket skirts (Pankaj & Nidhi), plastic and synthetic embellishments (Ritesh Kumar), floral and colour-clashing cut-outs (Zubair Kirmani and Rahul Reddy), and tight surface coils (Anand Bhushan).

The focus shifts from shoulder pads to the surface, be it jackets or dresses, and we suggest you pair a dramatic separate with a neutral one or pick the wearable Namrata Joshipura cuboid skirts.

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More orangey than ever

Tangy, fiery and adding just the right amount of zing to your Fall wardrobe, this hue found favour like fire on the Indian runways. With designers either opening (Hemant & Nandita) or closing (Namrata Joshipura) with orange, even the most staid collections relied on it for vibrance.



Be it Kallol Datta whose eclectic collection had a set of asymmetrical jacket and shorts in orange or Anand Kabra’s luxurious drape top, Shantanu & Nikhil’s column dresses or Tarun Tahiliani’s cheery sari, everyone wanted a piece. Try out a bright scarf or wear an orange tee under a sheer shirt.

Open secrets of runway styling
Don’t just get your foot in the fashion door, have it held open when you style the way pros do it.

Tunic over Skirt: Seen at all major shows from Sabyasachi to Anamika Khanna, this clever styling tip will leave you cosy and others gasping. But it works only when done with two opposite prints or materials. Otherwise the look could fall flat.

Visible zippers: Now this trend demands your full attention. Varun Bahl, Walnut by Nidhi & Divya Gambhir, Shivaji Dutta and Anamika Khanna all showed their zips upfront.

Black & White

This straightforward monotone combination had at least a billion interpretations on the Indian ramps this Fall (okay, not billion, but not far from it either), not unlike their international counterparts.



From vintage houndstooth (Abraham & Thakore) to the silk graphics of Rahul Mishra, the pixelated hotness of Rajesh Pratap Singh or mesmerising sweetness of am:pm by Ankur & Priyanka Modi, everyone and their assistant seemed keen on fitting out at least one model in this classic permutation.



So either layer a black scarf with the very popular white dress of last Summer or just pull that skinny black skirt and a crisp white shirt from your closet and you’re good to go.

Androgyny
First they wanted you to steal your boyfriend’s jacket, his trousers, shoes and hats. Now it seems they want you to be him. Well, add your twist to a man’s wardrobe, that is.

Snaking in from previous seasons, the androgynous trend takes a feminine curve with wide-legged palazzo pants and saris paired with waistcoats (Tarun Tahiliani and Abraham & Thakore), fitted waistcoats (Rohit Gandhi & Rahul Khanna), leather pants and boots (Varun Bahl and Rajesh Pratap Singh), sharp blazers and button-down column dresses (Ruchika Sachdeva) and fabulously tailored coats and pants by Arjun Saluja.

Time to turn Dude Looks Like a Lady on its head with a well-fitted pin stripe blazer if you please.

Shimmy that shimmer

Before you go all Lil’ Wayne (a bling-obsessed hip-hop star) on us, let us warn you, we don’t mean bling for you, your teeth and your dog. All we are suggesting is the warm, muted and tasteful shimmer that just about glittered on most runways this Fall.



The earthy gold of Abraham & Thakore and Rohit Gandhi & Rahul Khanna or the muted blue fish scales of Atsu Sekhose, the sheen of wires and cables of Rimzim Dadu, the holographic sheen at Rajesh Pratap Singh and the typical gold-vaganza of Rina Dhaka.



There’s enough fodder for you to oscillate between a blinged out Christmas tree to a red carpet siren, depending on your mood.

Cropped/Ankle-length pants
The reckless dandy is in town and doesn’t give two hoots before cuffing his well-cut pants and showing some ankle. Finally making a debut on the Indian ramp, this extremely popular trend showed up at Sanjay Hingu, Krishna Mehta, Tarun Tahiliani and Abraham & Thakore’s runways. Time to roll ’em up boys, but do make sure you are wearing safe socks.

Don’t Hide, Accessorise!
It's the age of the risk-taker this season, so if you want to sport Lennon-esque glasses (Arjun Khanna), slip into transparent shoes (Karan Johar with Varun Bahl), team canvas shoes with a formal suit (Abhishek Gupta), don a bright floral turban, (Sabyasachi Mukherjee), tie a stone buckle belt over your shirt (Tarun Tahiliani) or carry a cross body bag (Abraham & Thakore), you can!

And did we forget the hat? Ashish Soni (bowler), Sanchita Ajampur (fedora) and Arjun Khanna (cloche) demand you wear one while you’re at it.

Velvet Dreams

If you’re thinking of the column dress of the ’90s that would hug every embarrassing curve or its lower cousin from the 2000s, shaneel, which we only recently got rid of, then you couldn’t be more wrong.



Velvet is back this season, and as luxurious as it deserves to be. It’s rich and burgundy in a Sabyasachi sari and regally purple in a Rajesh Pratap Singh duster coat; has a belted vintage structure in Atsu Sekhose’s collection and is gloriously ruffled in an Yves Klein blue Gaurav Gupta jacket.



Pick your poisons at one go or start with a slim waistcoat for baby steps, that’s your call.Colour Splash

Govinda with his red pants and yellow shirts might have scarred you for life. That is why we’re taking it slow this time. Pair a neutral hue with a bright colour, like a pink T-shirt with an all-white suit (Ashish N Soni) or go inside out if you dare with a bright suit and white tee (Rohit Gandhi & Rahul Khanna and Karan Johar with Varun Bahl).



You can even try coloured pants but remember to pair them wisely like Sanchita Ajampur with a printed tee and a blazer in a solid hue. And if you still need more time for therapy, we suggest you start with bright socks or a coloured pocket square as Ashish Soni showed.

Mad About Plaid

Sexy woodcutters unite! Nothing else is more reminiscent of sinewy arms and all-male ruggedness than good ol’ plaid. While you might still have it lying around from the early ’90s, we suggest you look at the all-print suits (Troy Costa), riding pants (Arjun Khanna), low-key shirts (Rajesh Pratap Singh), relaxed blazers (Sanchita Ajampur), kurtas (Rajvi Mohan) and stylish trousers (Manoviraj Khosla, Ankita & Anjana Bhargava and Abhishek Gupta) that are going to be a rage come Fall.



That old fashioned charm will work like magic on the ladies, believe us.Open secrets of runway styling

Printed Leggings: When layering summer dresses with leggings, make sure you get stylish printed leggings as shown by Tanvi Kedia, Prama Pandey and Ritu Kumar.



Wild Child: Forget leopards, it is pythons which are ruling the urban jungle. A must-have either as a clutch, scarf, bootie or dress. Cue: Rahul Anand and Anushka Lal’s and Jatin Verma’s lines.

Short Kurtis: They are higher and sleeker. Pair a ruffled one with a skirt like VJ Balhara or do it as Payal Singhal did, with a patiala. Loosen the fit if you aren’t blessed with a model’s body!



Skirts that go the Length: Hemlines are generous and not at all boring. Mid-length like Atsu Sekhose and Rahul Mishra or in full flow like Aneeth Arora and Drashta, your pick.



Shawls: Guys, don’t shy away from looking the sensitive poet. Loosely drape it on one shoulder (Tarun Tahiliani) or go for rich variety (Shantanu & Nikhil).

From HT Brunch, September 25

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