Bollywood takes centrestage

Bollywood’s absence from the Lakme Fashion week for the first two days was just the calm before the storm. On the third day came the thunder in the form of ...

Bollywood’s absence from the Lakme Fashion week for the first two days was just the calm before the storm. On the third day came the thunder in the form of Hindi film industry’s first couple Amitabh Bachchan and his wife Jaya. I have never seen the Bachchan’s at any Fashion Week and seeing them at young Nachiket Barve’s showing, was a pleasure.



As soon as the couple arrived at the venue, they were whisked away to their seats through the head ramp minutes before the show began. Avoiding all the commotion that could have taken place because of the mega star’s entry into the fashion week. Barve, known for his beautiful appliques and textures with stylish designs, introduced dyeing techniques, embroidery, cut work and appliques through his beautifully made collection that, surprisingly, included some stylish saris as well.

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Sanjay Hingu was another designer who captured my attention with a line up of impeccably cut menswear. His creations not only bore the signs of masculinity and style, but also were extremely young in appeal and extremely wearable.



Anupama Dayal made a clear deviation from her usual prints. She made sure that in the festive season, her collection of embellished creations was for sure to be looked out for. She not only made a successful attempt at Indian wear, she also managed to make them look different with her characteristic green and blue.

Satya Paul, on the other hand, had a good mix of Indian and western wear following the tarot cards theme. I particularly liked the saris and the bridal-wear, especially the cream coloured long skirt and blouse with emerald green embroidery and crystal embellishments. Though the collection looked interesting, I am not sure whether the theme managed to percolate down to the designs.

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Colour display
Another designer who made an interesting presentation was Radhika Thirani. It was a pleasant line up with some colours and stylish clothes. Rajat Tangri made a mistake by opening his collection with a model (I was told that it was an addition made by him) that walked in wearing a short outfit that didn’t look good on her body. Perhaps he should have gone for a model with a leaner frame to display the garment. His collection had a few pieces that looked interesting enough.

Similar was the case of Arpan Vohra. While he tried to make his collection look appealing, I found that barring a few his lineup lacked what it takes to move ahead in the industry.

Masaba in her energetic display of clothes on the runway accompanied by local bandwalas made sure that the vibrancy of her collection is maintained and the clothes also caught everyone’s attention.

Vijay Balhara may want to reconsider what it is that he wants to do on the ramp. I was confused about who the collection was aimed at, to begin with. Purvi Doshi, on the other hand had some stylish pieces.

Trend
Corset prom dress
Designer
Arpan Vohra designed a corset prom dress with tights for Bollywood star Chitrangda Singh. The outfits were inspired by the glamorous era of the 1950s and 60s for the skirts and maxi dresses. The saris and blouses had a touch of the 21st century.

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Bridal Renaissance line
Designer
Designer Vijay Balhara presented the Bridal Renaissance line inspired by the Maharajas. The collection was embellished with zardozi, stones from Jaipur, sequins, aari work and embroidery.

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Shimmering mini with pink edging dress
Designer
Koena Mitra walked for designer Rajat Tangri. The collection was inspired by Victorian era and the designer has used thick fabric to make them fit for both autumn and winter.

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Flor De Luna line
Designer
Nandita Thirani’s line was called Flor De Luna (Spanish) or Moonflower. Creating a “Bridged” line, the colour story ranged from orange, brown, black, green, purple, mauve, red, and maroon for a mix of chiffons, silks and velvets which were used cleverly in each garment.