Kalim wins Delhi on way to Milan

A designer from Patna puts Dhanno and Basanti on LA's famous Rodeo drive - now that's a combination you can't go wrong with! Lakme Fashion House winner Shahzad Kalim's debut collection was as fresh and creative as the young designer himself, writes Sunanda Kumar.

A designer from Patna puts Dhanno and Basanti on LA's famous Rodeo drive - now that's a combination you can't go wrong with!

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Lakme Fashion House winner Shahzad Kalim's debut collection was as fresh and creative as the young designer himself. Bollywood kitsch was at it's best with crazy colours, wild embellishments and drool-worthy accessories. Dialogues from the Bollywood blockbuster, Sholay were booming in background and the leather whips that the models carried were reminiscent of Basanti ordering her loyal mare around. "I wanted my collection to be as bizarre and creative as possible and at the same time make it wearable too,"the 24-year-old designer said.

Though the wearablity issue might raise some eyebrows, the collection was definitely very creative. "I thought it was extremely fresh and creative," FDCI director Rathi Vinay Jha. "More than anything, it is really touching to see young talent grow this way," she added.

Models came out wearing shredded chiffon dresses with soft prints, contrasted with psychedelic sequins and studs. They carried leather whips and snarled at the camera - The energy level was at it's max - quite a refreshing change from the 'lost in paradise' look that we've been seeing on the ramp this week.

A brocade-lover, Kalim used the rich fabric almost everywhere - bustiers, daisy dukes (little boy shorts), capris, carpenter pants - you name it and it was in brocade. Particularly striking was a brocade bra-top with huge coloured stones on it. The effect was dramatic but again raised question about wearability.

Sexy tie-up blouses in shaded chiffon with polka dots were paired with asymmetrical skirts with yards and yards of shredded ruffles hanging from the hemlines. The wide belts with chains and sequins looked smashing.

Kalim said the whole idea was to fuse east with west, or as he termed it, "fusing Bollywood with Rodeo culture of Hollywood." However, one struggled to see the Rodeo Drive influence even remotely figure in the collection. Rodeo Drive is the classy and super-expensive stretch in Los Angeles, California, which has stores of the most celebrated designers like Christian Dior, Armani, Chanel and Gucci and jewellery stores like Cartier and Tiffany.

But yes, there was a definite element of fusion in Kalim's collection. Fusion is something that a lot of designers have been attempting this season. Satya Paul called it 'Madonna meets Sita', Shantanu & Nikhil combined Sikhism with Western silhouettes, Rocky S too brought Mughal-e-Azam in today's techno world, combining ghaghras and ghungroos with halters and bustiers.

Kalim has definite potential to make it big in the fashion world. And he sure has a good headstart. After winning the Lakme Fashion House competition, and getting to use Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla's workshop to create his LIFW collection (in just 2.5 weeks!), the 'Bihari babu' is flying off to Milan for 6 months to intern with Donatella Versace. "This will be my first time abroad and I'm really excited about it," he said smiling.

Future plans? First thing is to shift base to Delhi from Patna and then star his own label, once he gets back from Milan. Kalim says he wants to concentrate on the Indian market instead of the international market. "Bihar is already global! I want to capture all of India first," he quipped.

Good luck Shahzad!