Narendra Kumar, in his Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week opening show with Wendell Rodricks, left the audience a little baffled initially, when the only sound that could be heard when the first model came down the ramp was that of her heels click-clacking on the floor. And some anxious whispers on whether the sound system had malfunctioned. Specially because what sounded like very loud Buddhist chants just preceded the sudden quiet. As it turned out, ‘Introspection’ needed some silence. Narendra Kumar’s Spring/Summer 2010 line was, according to him, a representation of the thinking process.
Question him about why he dispensed with music in his show, and he says, “The collection is called ‘Introspection’, which is looking deep inside. When you’re introspecting, you want silence.”
Colour on the ramp
The colour palette ranged from beige-olive to navy blue and black, mostly punctuated with silver detailing. Volume, either in the form of flounced dresses and skirts, pleated georgette tops, origami-inspired tops or organza jackets, contrasted with slimmer silhouettes in the form of liner trousers, a satin silk jumpsuit and PU trousers and skirts.
Slim pants, “moving away from jeans”, are what Kumar sees as one of the biggest trends for Spring/Summer 2010. His line, too, saw several in the form of liner trousers, PU trousers, Jodhpurs, lurex trousers and satin silk pleated trousers. “Summer will also see a lot of texturing and mixing of fabrics,” he forecasts.
Narendra Kumar, who had previously designed costumes for the film Fashion, has another Bollywood outing in Aladin, where he has designed for the film’s main cast, which includes Amitabh Bachchan, Ritesh Deshmukh and Jacqueline Fernandez. “Despite being based on a familiar and magical tale, Aladin is a movie of today, with real people and real situations. That how the clothes are going to be,” he adds.
