Lacklustre Lakmé Fashion Week

Lakmé Fashion Week had its swan song for the season with a Grand Finale show by Manish Malhotra. But the show’s complete lack of flair or pizzazz left the audience wondering whether the designer did justice to the coveted slot, which is meant for designers to put on more than just a simple fashion show.

Lakmé Fashion Week had its swan song for the season with a Grand Finale show by Manish Malhotra. But the show’s complete lack of flair or pizzazz left the audience wondering whether the designer did justice to the coveted slot, which is meant for designers to put on more than just a simple fashion show.

Kareena-Kapoor-walked-the-ramp-as-showstopper-for-designer-Manish-Malhotra-during-the-grand-finale-of-Lakme-Fashion-Week-LFW-Winter-Festival-2011

It can be argued that fashion weeks across the world focus on the clothes, rather than on pyrotechnics. But the same hasn’t ever been true here… and perhaps, that’s why we love it. Or is asking for a little drama from Bollywood’s favourite designer asking for too much?

Manish Malhotra stepped out of his oeuvre just a tad bit with exaggerated shoulders and puffed collars, before falling right back into his comfort zone. Most of the garments seemed too fussy, overdosing on lace and Swarovski crystals. The few more aesthetic designs were lost in this jamboree of jewels, and while this will probably only serve to further enhance the designer’s buying market, it made the collection seem almost identical to those shown earlier by peers like Neeta Lulla and JJ Valaya.

Watching Nandita Thirani’s show was like sitting through reruns of shows by Anamika Khanna and Anand Kabra. From the colour palette to the use of ombre shading and embroidered motifs, the designer took more than a little inspiration from her more popular contemporaries. Digvijay Singh used to create clean organic garments under his label, Bhu:Sattva, but now the label seems to be meandering without a course. Draped dresses with faulty darts and ill-fitting bodices didn’t impress on the runway.

We just didn’t get it. Vivek Kumar’s collection of knit dresses piled with sequins, zippers and all manner of bits and bobs seemed random at best, almost like the designer was deliberately sabotaging any chance he had of selling his garments. We’re yet to see dressing like a laundry heap become a trend.