Lakme India Fashion Week: A Review
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India is becoming the latest fashion hub for fashionistas. Indian designers are no longer confined to the domestic fashion and apparel market, but are gaining recognition and fame across the globe. Various government policies and the rise of the fashion industry have made this possible. One of the major advances provided to Indian designers to showcase their talents is through fashion shows. Lakme India Fashion Show is India’s most popular fashion show celebration, showcasing the talents of both established and up-and-coming designers.
This event is a celebration of fashion with a lot of glamor and national and international media coverage. This time, the Lakme India fashion week was held in Mumbai from October 31 to November 4. Many high-profile designers, as well as the public, witnessed this fashion festival. Famous Bollywood celebrities were a part of this.
Eminent designers like Surily Goel, Narendra Kumar, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Nalandda Bhandari, Nandita Mahtani, Anand Kabra, Abhishek Dutta, Wendrell Rodericks, Anupama Dayal, Vikram Phadnis, Chaitanya Rao, Sanchita, Savio Jon, Payal Singhal, Sanjay Malhotra, James Ferriera, Priyadarshini Rao, etc presented their Spring/Summer 2007 collection. Also the South African designer duo Sun Goddess and Clive Rundle presented their collection.
Brief descriptions of the creative work of some designers are as follows:
Nalandda Bhandari
Nalandda Bhandari designs a simple yet attractive and wearable collection under the ‘Nasha’ brand. She called her spring/summer 2007 collection ‘Free Spirit’. She covered all patterns and styles of contemporary women’s clothing, dress patterns such as tunics, kaftans, sheath dresses, skirts, shirts, and burnt gold evening gowns dominated her show. She played with glamorous fabrics like chiffon, silk, georgette, voile, cotton, and crepe. Her collection was largely dominated by animal prints and embroideries like African embroidery, sequin embroidery, etc. She also presented her men’s collection. She included the rose embroidery logo on almost all of her outfits.
narendra kumar
The very famous designer Narendra Kumar presented his spring/summer 2007 collection at Lakme Fashion Week. The collection was named as ‘Love Touches You’. It featured a perfect mix of traditional and contemporary design blending beautifully with each other. The women’s line of the denim collection had gathered and pleated skirts, balloon skirt with shirt dress, mid-neck, bloomers, chiffon with appliqués on the sleeves, etc., which were created with the designer’s unique touch and details. The designer’s favorite fabrics were cotton, georgette, mesh, silk, mull and linen. The collection was unique but wearable in terms of design and pattern.
The men’s collection was very stylish and attractive in nature. Male models walked the ramp in elaborate batik-style embroidered shirts paired with smart pants with patch pockets and shiny zippers. A playful element of femininity was brought to the menswear by showcasing sophisticated floral-print slouchy tops paired with skinny pants and capris. The choice of colors was opaque jade, beige, blue, brown, saffron and white. Intricate embroidery, ruching, appliqué work, and shadow work were integral to her creative design. The fun element was when famous model-turned-actor John Abraham walked down the ramp in a white linen suit. Thus, he delivered on all the creative and entertaining aspects of his collection, earning him a standing ovation from the audience and a shower of red carnations.
Surily Goel
Surily Goel is a young and talented designer who even designs for movie personalities. The last creation of her on the big screen was for the actress Preity Zinta for the film ‘Jaan-e-Mann’. Her collection presented the casual and sensual side of womenswear. This year’s collection was marked by knee-length skirts in georgette, crochet, chiffon, light silks and organdy, highlighting pleats and ruching at the waist with satin belts. She also created one-piece bubble ensembles in a wide range of colors and fabrics. In the collection of this time she used more small colored stones.
The presence of film personalities such as Dino Morea, Sonali Bendre, Neelam Kothari, Fardeen Khan, Sameera Reddy and Tara Sharma in the audience during his collection added the star element to the show.
Chaitanya Rao
The Chaitanya Rao collection was like the early morning breeze with resounding petals of budding roses. Delicate fabrics like georgette and chiffon gave his collection that sexy and feminine look. As a signature, he included the moth in the form of embroidery or appliqué on all his garments. Models took over the ramp with their mesmerizing women’s collection consisting of themed embroidered hem tops, batik print pleated mini skirts, moth appliqué tops, double hem frayed maxi dresses, pale gray chiffon tunic, bubble dress chiffon hipster dress with dolman sleeves. blouses, the list goes on. To complement her collection, she used thin and wide belts.
sanchita
Sanchita’s collection presented at Lakme Fashion Week was bold yet wearable. She divided her collection into three segments: Punk chic, Copacabana and Swinging deco. Dazzling designer pieces of bikinis and wraps, Hawaiian-inspired kaftans, mini balloon skirts, flowing dresses and miniskirts gave audiences a feel for the beaches of Copacabana, St. Tropez and Riviera. Her collection was quite glamorous and consisted of outfits such as gray t-shirts with silver leggings, lycra t-shirts with embellishments on the sleeves, strapless dresses accompanied by necklaces, earrings and brooches.
The men’s collection was marked by casual wear t-shirts, poplin pants with detailed embroidery and white tuxedo jackets.
The garments were decorated with semi-precious stones or with attractive patches. His collection line was dominated by colors such as white, apatite, agate, jade, opal, and black onyx. The garments were accessorized with intricately elaborate jewelry and bags.
savio jon
This designer placed a lot of emphasis on the comfort factor of the garments. Savio Jon is well known for his simple yet attractive clothing lines that have high value and a seductive quotient. Unlike other designers, he preferred his garments to fit loosely around the body rather than form-fitting garments. He used free-flowing fabrics like fishnet, mul, chiffon, georgette, and crepe.
Silhouette pinafore, long and fitted maxis, oversize blouses, deep armholes on the shovel, necklines on the back and in the front, were some types of garments that he presented. In evening wear she glamorized tubular silhouettes with sparkles. The color ranges chosen by him for his collection were beige, grey, brown, black, pale yellow and white. Thus the colors were also sober and subtle.
payal singhal
Payal Singhal first presented his collection at Lakme Fashion Week. The ella women’s designer ella collection was designed with the needs and comfort level of today’s working women in mind. Elegant yet affordable was the key element associated with her collection. She used lace, satin, georgette, jacquard, tulle, cotton, crepe, taffeta, brocade and seersucker beautifully in clubwear and party wear for dresses and tunics. Her on-ramp display of outfits gracefully descended from daywear to glamorous evening wear. She began exhibiting her designs in oyster white, then tea rose, yellow, brown, watermelon to grapefruit. The display of tunics and smocks was combined with melon, gold or silver stockings. Her signature outfit was the oyster white caftan trimmed with gold embroidery.
Sanjay Malhotra
Sanjay Malhotra called his spring/summer 2007 collection ‘Dejavu’. The key phrase that inspired him for this collection was -Life through my rose-colored glasses. Instead of sticking solely to the usual free-flowing feminine fabrics, he even experimented with fabrics like furs, leather, veils, denim, suede, and lace that were highly appealing to today’s empowered independent women. The beautiful mix and match of these fabrics in bold, understated colors presented a collection that was bold enough yet elegant and wearable. Some of the many outfits he displayed were: ivory mirrored jacket with chiffon sleeves, colorful corset skirt accompanied by fishnet petticoats, fur-trimmed tunic, etc. His collection was for the woman who likes to stand out from the crowd and be different.
Clive Rundle and the Goddess of the Sun
Clive Rundle and Sun Goddess were two international South African designers who presented their collection at Lakme Fashion Week. Fusion was the key style of their outfits. Extravagant layered dresses and skirts, jackets, evening wear, loose-fitting shirts and pants, long coats and blouses were part of her apparel showcase. Her color choices were primarily creams, cherries, plums, peaches, sapphires, garnets, and mauves. The free flowing layered and pleated ensembles represented South African culture and the essence of fashion through them.
james ferrera
James Ferriera made his debut at Lakme Fashion Week. He named his collection ‘Bombay Tokyo’. His collections were inspired by the rich textile heritage of Maharashtra.
The collections were divided into seven segments that were even named. The sari, an ode to Devnagari, the strong traditional towel, black magic, the history of sholapur, warli and diwali were the seven names given to the segments.
Traditional warli paintings and paithani motifs were painted on the clothes. In a very unique way, he transformed traditional Maharashtrian clothing forms into contemporary designs, such as nine-yard sarees cleverly turned into robes. Marigold and leaf motifs were used on black turtleneck shirts.
To describe his collection in a few words, he used ethnic fabrics and designs in garments with style and attitude. The outfit featured during the final featured black georgette garments with brilliant Paithani embroidery designs.
conclusion
This event is marked by the presence of celebrities and merchants from all over the world. It also provides a platform for budding designers to showcase their talent and establish themselves in the high-profile fashion industry, for already established designers to showcase their collection and maintain their level of popularity. The review mentioned above is for some of the many prominent and talented designers. The brief description of the designers suggests that this celebration of fashion and style is a sure hit for Indian designers and also promotes export business. The very presence of movie stars on the ramp of their favorite designers and in the audience is the crowd-drawing factor of this celebration. Lakme fashion week is widely covered by the media and also promoted.