It was another week of glamour, celeb sighting and a make-believe sartorial world. But it was also a fun-filled, if somewhat puzzled, five-day long fashion event. The media invite mentioned it as the Autumn-Winter collection of the Lakme Fashion Week, but looking at the shorter hemlines exposing more of long legs and the plunging necklines sometimes reaching as low as the navel made me wonder how women could beat the Brrrr temperature in such revealing clothes!
Of course some of the designers came forward with a rather simple solution - layered outfits in sheer shimmering fabrics. Imagining my slightly overweight wife, a representative of the 70 per cent Indian women, in these layered outfits I became more muddled. When a single layer of cloth makes her look rotund, would she be able to carry the layered outfits flaunted here by the elfin looking models? More confusion prevailed.
Deciding to blank out the real world of well-fed people, I plonked myself on a backless seat at the NCPA where more than 40 designers were showcasing around thousand outfits over a period of five days. This was the first time when we had foreign media representatives – 12 from eight countries - covering the event which has emerged as an ideal platform for desi designers to woo both desi and videshi buyers – provided they come!
As far as I could see, the audience comprised of page 3 regulars. And when the show is held in Mumbai, can the Bollywood brigade be far behind? On the ramp and as well as the front rows they were there by the dozen. It seems Mumbai-based designers are obsessed with the filmi type. One can forgive youngsters like Sushmita Sen, Raima Sen, Isha Koppikar, Karan Johar, Milind Soman, Rahul Bose and their group; but imagine Jaya Bachchan watching the show with an avid interest and have the byte-hungry TV journos eating out of her hand. Then there was the yesteryear dream girl Hema Malini looking any day better than some of the emaciated models on the ramp. One would have thought our Rajya Sabha members had better things to do!
Talking about the fashion, it was a riot of colour, style that was more Western than Indian with a variety of fabrics - I could identify only a couple of fabrics from our Bharat. Velvet seems to have regained its popularity. There were couple of designers who used the fabric quite ingeniously with imaginative prints and embroidery. But one thing that became very clear from day one was that whoever said fashion always takes a pirouette was perfectly right.
As a child I had seen my mother sporting the puff sleeved blouses, long bottomed blouses reaching slightly below the sari-waist length with flowing sleeves that were gathered at the cuff. My father and grandfather sported hounds-tooth jackets and trousers. This year they are back in vogue. Our previous generation took these designs for granted whereas present day designers and models flaunt them as a freshly minted fashion statement. The only development is that while the fabric in the old days was slightly coarse cotton and wool, today it is made of chemically treated softened yarn.
More than the established designers whose designs we will talk about a bit later, what impressed everyone were the lines presented by the ten Aza Gen Next designers. What imagination and creativity! These budding talents have not yet been corrupted by the market demands besides not being influenced by Western designers. They are fresh from their institutes, bubbling with ideas and ingenuity--all enthusiastically working hard to establish their credentials. It was really heartening to see the blue-eyed boy of designers - Sabyasachi Mukherjee --present at the Gen Next show for there’s no one better than him to know the struggle required before one’s name is established.
Nitin Bal Chauhan’s creations – that fetched him the coveted Aza Gen Next designer award - were “awesome” and “mind boggling.” Many celebrities used these two adjectives unceasingly and that’s precisely why I’m using them for, as I said, this was a Bollywood celebrity filled event. Nitin’s ten-piece collection used the dramatic stripes of stereotyped prison garb – in grey, black and white – for a collection that was severely tailored in the manner of a straitjacket with a mix of the more romantic Victorian and Gothic references, such as long dresses, cut and stitched in a patchwork of vertical and horizontal stripes and pleated capes, worn with mini-kilts over leggings.
His designs, although complex in the extreme requiring pattern, cutting and sewing skills, were faultless in their execution. The dress that bowled over everybody was the one where he used multiple ‘petals’ of wool and flannel overlaid one on top of the other, to fashion ruff-style necklines, pockets and cuffs. He deserved that award and I’m sure the sheer beauty of the design will make women want to wear wool and flannel even in the so-called winter in Mumbai when the temperature doesn’t ever drop beyond 12 degrees. No confusion here; it was an autumn-winter collection.
Nitin faced tough competition in his category by the neatly cut, embroidered black taffeta and silk outfit created by Nachiket Barve and the stunning ivory knit wear with 3D flowers and textures by Vivek Kumar among others. Having always been partial to smocked dresses with texture, especially those that have soft understated embroidery, I also loved the apparels of heavy weight fabric of velvet and satin presented by Nimita Rathod. Talking about young talent, one couldn’t ignore the effervescent Bihari babu, Shahzad Kalim, who for some reason was left out of last edition of LFW. I was very curious to know how a year’s training stint at Versace’s fashion studio had shaped this winner of the 2005 Lakme Fashion House award.
Shahzad didn’t disappoint at all. This avant garde designer, who is a rebel of sorts, loves to create and shock. This year he presented Indian wear in contemporary silhouettes, layering and embellishing to give a futuristic look while maintaining the traditional Indian silhouettes - like the Rabari peasant tops, the flowing kurtas, the bundi, churidars and knee length pants. The white churidar had a colourfully ribbed waist banded white skirt. This was topped with a flaring short white embroidered top just about managing to reach midriff, in fact tantalizingly baring only little of the midriff, and covered with a lighter brown full-sleeved bundgala jacket in Khadi fabric, never looked so pleasantly comfortable and trendy. Shahzad proved he knows his fabric and his creation, though deeply rooted in
Deepti Toor, who exhibited along with Shahzad, proved to be his equal. A person who has been always fascinated by the beauty and grace of the late Jacqueline Kennedy-Onasis, I liked Deepti’s 60s styled knee-length twill woven cotton wool dress with roll-collar. She presented mostly cotton wool with the Ikat weave, cotton in the modilino, rib, plain and satin textures with just a dash of cotton wool tensile for twills. The plain dresses were only embellished with Warli motifs, which were woven in an Ikat weave. The blurry image this created highlighted her designs.
Every designer wasn’t so creative at all. In fact I abhor the influence Bollywood seems to be having on our designers. One look at the creation of Vikram Phadnis and Neeta Lulla and you know their clientele are from tinsel town. Vikram’s designs were not only theatrical but downright gaudy and garish. The prints on his fabrics were outstanding. But satin prints with loud embroidery on black velvet? Give me a break. This was one of the worst slapdash collections. Even though couture king Manish Malhotra modelled and walked the ramp for Vikram - a gesture that was appreciated by everyone - he couldn’t save the disastrous presentation. The show ended with another filmy person modelling for him - Amrita Arora sashayed in with a dress in black taffeta gown with panels of zardozi embroidery on the bodice. Unless he wants to stick to Bollywood, Vikram has to let go of his fetish for tinsel town and start really using his creative juices.
Ditto for Neeta Lulla. She had a wonderful theme of woman emancipation and got one the best models of the show, the young, sweet and innocent looking Renee Sen, walk the ramp with her mother Sushmita Sen. But Neeta’s attire, colours chosen, embellishments, the cut and accessories couldn’t stop screaming “Bollywood!” She had everything - printed dresses, pinafores, with scalloped hemlines, brocade skirts under tiny minis, silk culottes in olive with an emphasis on the waist which she clinched with ornate corsets, frock coats in khaki with pleated panels, a fuchsia layered mini in georgette and a red knee length georgette flared gathered dress with satin border. You ask for it and Neeta Lulla had it. But only thing is they all came in a bold stamp of B.......d.
What surprised and worried me was the absence of saris. Hey! We’re Indians and in this country every woman, however fashion conscious or Westernised, still loves to drape a sari when she has to attend any ceremony, family gathering, festival, impressive evening parties etc. I could count only three or four sari designs in the entire five day event! Abhishek Dutta was one of the few designers who thought fit to give importance to the six yard clothing that has a history since time immemorial. He showcased two saris - one had a contemporary trend and featured an under-bodice handmade from strips of leather allied to the traditional five to nine yards of fabric making up the skirt and shawl. Another, modelled by actress, Raima Sen, was made from an elaborate patchwork of multi-coloured silk, embellished with crochet, antique embroideries and metal discs. Abhishek your sari was really a great piece.
Sikkim-born designer Sonam Dubal showed an unusual sari in silk printed with Tibetan and
Goa-based designer Wendell Rodricks has been making waves in the world of fashion for some time now. It is said that the French Fashion Federation saw his work during the Lakme gala, where Rodricks showed his Les Vamps collection based on his home state’s occult tradition. He has been invited by them to showcase his creations along with the likes of Chanel, Dior, Armani and Cavalli among others. Rodricks will be rubbing shoulders with the biggest names in the fashion world such as Karl Lagerfeld, Tom Ford and John Galliano.
At LFW he showcased the Les Vamps, a shortened name for Les Vampires, taking inspiration from the occult of
Another designer who has always impressed me is Priyadarshini Rao. Her designs, as she has always been maintaining, are for ordinary folks and for daily wear. Unpretentious, chic, designer stamped yet simple is what one can call her ‘Sepia’ collection. She went in for lots of leggings, layered apparel in fluid silks and georgettes. The best were the satin strips stitched on to the dresses that lifted the garments to a different level. Her designs can be worn by young and trendy middle aged women and also used as daily-to-party wear by just changing the accessories
With her we had another equally funky and cheery show presented by Kiran Uttam Gosh. Though her sari collection had a hint of Sabyasachi, the colours, print and even the cut and design of the blouses bared her full bloom creativity. She had mirror-finished metal-plated embellished garments with a touch of Rajasthani that elevated her clothes to a different level. Even the fusion churidar-kurtas worn with little embroidered jackets, made a good style statement. She optimally utilized the textile and print motifs and came up with a superb wearable collection.
In contrast was Agnimitra Paul from Kolkata. Her designs created a commotion - bright colours and bold prints. But tell me how many men and women would like to walk or attend parties attired in the ceremonial dresses of the royal family of
the Paul styled kimono-type attire. Paul had beautifully appliquéd jackets, dresses and capes highlighted by matte gold and silver embroidery with colourful gold foil Buddha motifs. She even had two men dressed like monks squatting on the ramp as the models walked past. The clothes were sheer drama, visually stunning but only fit for stage shows and without an iota of the ‘wearability’ quotient.
Paul wasn't the only one to have shocking clothes. There was Arjun Saluja with his Rishta label. He had every conceivable form of dressmaking and tailoring technique in heavy fabrics such as tweeds, plaids and corduroys, but all in a bizarre sense. His clothes had everything - pleats, folds, pockets, rouching, draping, swathing, asymmetric details, buttons, flaps and collars, all in one ensemble, and that in a mix of several different fabrics and colours like olive, forest, grey and brown to boot along with contrast stripes and gilded piping. But how and when do you wear these clothes unless you get transported back in a time machine to the days of Helen of Troy and plan to go to war.
By contrast the two foreign companies that the LFW had roped in – FCUK (French Connection-UK) and Giovanni Cavagna - had very trendy but very wearable clothes. No, I’m definitely not obsessed with foreign labels but these clothes were good - one can easily wear them to office or evening parties without any problem. So was the grand finale presented by Narendra Kumar’s trendy and wearable clothes? His theme was an ode to the free spirited women and his creations came across as one who known who knows a woman and what she would like to be draped in. Of course, he leaned towards the fashion of 1980s style and stuck only to party and evening wear. There was this narrow tafetta trouser topped with pleated organza shirt, a three-fourth pant of linen in tonal blue gold colour and added to this uniqueness was the girlish upturned embroidered wide cuff. And imagine a touch of leather on gold georgette with feminine oversized sleeves. Only Kumar can do it and get it right. His designs illustrate a woman who seeks her space at her own turn.
Like Kumar and few others majority of our designers need to learn that designing clothes may be a creative pursuit, but designing for the sake of it and just to get noticed does not serve any purpose. And even the event managers have to take care to give the designer better models who know what they are wearing and how to exhibit them.
Some of the models were so pathetic that they lacked the grace associated with walking on the ramp. But for their long legs, they neither had looks nor the chic required to be a ramp model. Their skin was bad and their body language was awful. I don’t like to say old is always gold but looking at these models I really liked the days when Anne Bredmayer, Madhu Sapre, Lubna Adams and their clan walked the ramp. Those models were a class apart! And I must admit that there are ramp beauties like Nina Manuel, Gauhar Khan, Deepika Padukone, Vidisha Pawte, Fleur Xavier and few others who still continue to impress. Long live the tribe of long legged women, yes gracious looks and a body language which can scorch the ramp.
