Satya Paul

Satya Paul painted quite a dramatic picture of timeless fashion against the backdrop of the Chandragupta Maurya period, with his 'Retro-Modern Chic' collection at the LIFW.

Satya Paul painted quite a dramatic picture of timeless fashion against the backdrop of the Chandragupta Maurya period, with his 'Retro-Modern Chic' collection at the LIFW. Backing him up was friend and celebrity Mandira Bedi who walked the ramp wearing one of his exquisite sarees.

HT Image

Truly elegant and somewhat couture-like, the collection was rich in fabric, colours and even price tags! "The basic cheap stuff costs about 5000 and it goes up to god knows how much," Paul said without batting a lid.

The show kicked off with beautiful ivory coloured asymmetrical satin dresses with a muted elegant print on them. Playing with fabrics like lace, satin and lycra, Paul merged them together to create some truly exquisite pieces.

A stunning ivory coloured satin saree with a dull taupe print on it - as if someone had poured Irish cream over it in a haphazard fashion - was paired with a backless blouse with metallic Swarovski work on the bust and shoulder pads. "Even our shoulder pads are separates if one wants to buy and attach to an existing garment," Paul said.

The next segment was mostly in black with bursts of lime green, aqua and orange on them. The sarees looked like they were created in outer space - with multi-hued starbursts on the pallus. Worn with sequinned bustiers, the look was definitely sexy. Not for the tame-hearted, these sarees were quite playful and vivacious - quite a contrast from the first segment which was very classy and elegant.

The third segment brought in a lot of colour with canary yellows, peacock blues and ruby reds. Swarovski crystals embellished pretty much all the garments - whether they were traditional diamante-like crystals or the new range of metallic ones.

Detailing was definitely an integral part of the collection. There was a lot of appliqué work on the pallus and on the bustline. Elements like chains, studs and crystals were used aplenty.

Satya Paul is perfect for the society queens of Page 3 and the Bollywood fraternity with his high-end garments. With the amount of detailing he gets into and the prices he charges, wonder if the average neighbourhood aunty will ever get a chance to sway those incredible pallus!

THE OTHER VIEW: East meets West
Arati Thapa/HT City

Showcasing his Fall/Winter collection at the Lakme India Fashion Week was a confluence of East and West for Puneet Nanda of Satya Paul. Not surprisingly, his collection was called Madonna Meets Sita.' Though Satya Paul has been consistently promoting saris, there has been a deviation for the last two years, ever since Nanda began doing westerns for the label.

The collection began with all-white western wear, went on to all-black and finally, to black and white. Delicate lace and net skirts as well as pleated skirts and asymmetrical flowing dresses were on display. While skirts seem to be the flavour this season, what one missed were trousers, as there were just a few in the collection.

Designers often say their creations were like the canvas on which they paint their thoughts. It couldn't hold more true for Nanda -- his sari collection had a smattering of an artist's paintbrush that ran amok on the pallu. The bright tie and dye prints in black saris made into interesting patterns stood out as well.

The blouses used sequins abundantly. The show stopper was a black and white ensemble with a heavy sequinned bustier worn by TV siren Mandira Bedi.

Rate-o-meter
Wearability: 7
Presentation: 5. No fuss or frill except the headgear.
Front Row: Laila Rajpal, Dilshad Sheikh, Pratibha Advani, Kishin Moolchandani, Shabnam Singhal
Buzz factor: 5
Late-o-meter: 20 minutes