The winter-festive season of Lakme Fashion Week predominantly saw comfortable silhouettes. Keeping with the colder weather towards the later half of the year, there was no dearth of layers. A few seasons ago, winter-festive collections were dominated by wedding wear by the design fraternity that looked to tap the lucrative wedding market. This year, there was a significant shift in the approach towards bridal wear. Traditional lehengas and saris can never be replaced, but there was also a contemporary take on outfits for special occasions.
Beyond all this, what stood out was the trend of monochromes. Black made a huge comeback on the runway with several designers opting for black-brown-grey colour palette. Others drew attention with jewel-toned outfits in a similar colour palette. All-yellow, all-orange, all-burgundy or all-ivory ensembles weren’t hard to find. Textures and detailing have to speak volumes if the ensembles have to stand out in these single-colour palette collections. And they did!
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* Nachiket Barve chose burgundy, black and deep indigo before moving to all-mustard, bronze and gold for his Greco-Roman collection with panelled skirts, flowy capes and toga-like drapes.
* Anavila Misra moved away from pastels for her luxurious linen line and showcased an all-black collection.
* Divyam Mehta courted shades of black with layered kurtas, dhoti pants, jackets and shirts.
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* Charcoal grey and black dominated Ujjawal Dubey’s line for label Antar-Agni in both menswear and womenswear. The single colour tone was broken occasionally with a pop of burgundy, deep blue or lavender. Double-breasted coats, waistcoats, kurtas and jumpsuits figured in this line.
* SVA by Sonam and Paras Modi varied from black-brown palette to burnt oranges and gold for a wedding collection that looked to Kashmir for inspiration. Floral vines, Chinar tree leaves and birds from Naseem Bagh were the motifs.
* Gaurav Jai Gupta’s lehengas, saris and separates in hand-woven cotton, silk and merino wool were in charcoal greys and blacks, indigo and deep browns.
* The Meraki Project had a refreshing take on nostalgia, staying away from the royal past. Sonali Pamnani incorporated motifs that resembled doodles by children for the childhood-inspired playful line. Crushed silks and quilt-textured fabrics in shades of royal blue, jewel green and other tones went into creation of jackets and knee-length dresses.
* Shades of candy pink and fuchsia dominated Masaba Gupta’s saris and lehengas with warli motifs. A velvet gown with a golden-hue cape completed the striking collection.
* Sanjay Garg’s ‘Cloud People’ was an ode to Royal Opera House. In rich tones of gold, black, deep blues and purples, he created an impression using chikankari on mul, brocades and zardosi.
Other highlights
* Manish Arora marked the 10th anniversary of showing at Paris Fashion Week with his ‘Cosmic Love’ collection. The ensembles reflected his sartorial style and had a melange of colours and designs inspired from African tribes to contemporary art.
* Building a case for conscious fashion, Reflection by The Huemn Project had striking installations with models in a sombre mood wearing garments made from recycled bits — from patchwork garments to plastic waste!
* Wendell Rodricks batted for comfortable, fashionable clothing for men and women of all sizes with his plus-sized collection ‘aLL PRIMERO’. The show was opened by transgender plus-sized model Veronica Campbell.
* Anuj Bhutani and Doodlage, known for zero-waste, up-cycled garments that rework discarded pieces of garments from factories, showcased as part of the #RestartFashion segment. Bhutani’s woollen line had structured garments in neutral shades, deep reds and ivory whites, while Doodlage’s ‘Dream’s and Dystopia’ used clever patchworks.