Designs to watch out for

Designers like Nimish Shah for Shift and Aneeth Arora for Pero offer a breath of fresh air to those looking for fashionable wardrobes.

Curtains came down on the Lakme Fashion Week this season on Sunday with the grand finale by Manish Malhotra. His collection had Indian wear with beautiful colour coordination, embroidery and a few western influences. There was some traditional menswear too, but the failure of half the small bulbs on the frame-like backdrop and ceiling to light up, cast a shadow of shabbiness at the otherwise grand occasion.

Simple, yet splendid Pero by Aneeth Arora, with its signature crushed look, made an impression as always. Her silk wide-legged jumpsuits, knitted pullovers and cotton harem pants were innovative and wearable. Kallol Dutta’s offerings this time included multi-flap wool and cropped jackets. The garments were cut well and extremely stylish.

Nimish Shah’s debut collection, Shift, was like a breath of fresh air. His creations, with a sprinkle of woolen knits, were clean, uncluttered and beautifully made. This designer is someone to look forward to in the coming season. Digvijay Singh’s label, Bhu:Satva was all about geometry strewn all over the collection. These patterns on saris were particularly commendable, making them contemporary and interesting. The whole collection spoke of simplistic style and was a hit on the runway. Atithi Gupta too came out with a collection of simple yet interesting garments. Her presentation spelt out that elegance can come without forcing it.

Sabah Khan’s theme of paying tribute to darzis (tailors) was a nice thing to do. Her creations were pleasing on the eye, with longer silhouettes making an impact along with their shorter cousins.

Vivek Kumar began his show with some very nicely cut creations, and then went on to show some glittery ones. He proceeded to display some avant-garde garments. While the first and last were interesting, the ones that came in between with sequin detail left much to be desired. Nandita Thirani and Payal Kapoor, in their separate showings, presented Indian wear.