Much to the delight of the Indian fashion industry, and adding color to the current festivities, two back to back fashion weeks in Delhi and Mumbai left the fashionistas and divas in awe and wanting for more.
The recently concluded Wills India Fashion Week (WIFW) Spring/Summer 2009 (Oct 15-19) in Delhi followed by the Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW) in Mumbai (Oct 20-24) saw the best in Indian fashion industry displaying their talent to a wide range of audience. SATimes gets up, close and personal with the fashion weeks and its participants.
The Delhi story…
The WIFW Spring/Summer 2009, a five day fashion gala at New Delhi's Pragati Maidan, reached its crescendo on Oct 19 with a dramatic and flamboyant display of exclusive designs, styles and cuts by renowned fashion designer Manish Arora. FDCI president and host Sunil Sethi was a proud man as he welcomed the crowd.
Color and elegance rule runway, set trend for the festive season
Ace designers Satya Paul, Vikram Phadnis, Rajesh Pratap, Rohit Gandhi, Renu Tandon, Payal Jain, Ranna Gill, Rina Dhaka, Falguni and Shane Peacock presented a vivid combination of colors and attires at the WIFW.
Talking about their line W@rdrobe Rock @rt, Nandita Raipurani of the Nandita-Hemant designer duo said, "For our collection this year we combined Indian colors like Green, Blue and Pink with International colors like White, Black and Gray. We went with fabrics such as crepe and linen and are trying to bring the art technique of Dabka back into vogue."
Celebrities Sameera Reddy, Shabana Azmi, Chitraganda Sen, Sanjay Suri, Riya Sen and Deepika Padukone graced the ramp.
Designer Renu Tandon's Indian outfits in Red, Orange and Pink were a combination of modernity as well as tradition and could not be displayed at any better time than the Diwali season. In fact, her ensemble would also make for a very trendy Diwali attire as well.
Describing her designs to SATimes, Anita Dongre said, "My clothes are for women of all ages. From women as young as Chitraganda to women as elegant as Shabana, there's something for everyone." Rajasthani saris and knee length dhoti pants were a highlight of Dogre's collection. She has also used a lot of bandhini prints.
Designer Joy Mitra's collection included exquisite lehengas and short cholis while Payal Jain had stylish white gowns on display. Kavita Bhartiya's collection made a statement with a range of black ensemble that caught the eye for its wearability.
A flamboyant use of sequins in combination with Swarovski crystals on fabrics like chiffon, georgette and net marked the collection of designer Khushali Kumar. "My collection includes Swarovski studded gowns and tunics in vivid colors," Kumar told the SATimes. Explaining the meaning of her brand's name she said: "Reve is a French word for dream." Indeed her collection took one right into the land of dreams.
Designers Rina Dhaka and Prashant Verma will soon exhibit their collections
in the US as well, as told to SATimes.
New designers, big ventures and social causes give a new meaning
Among the many new designers, Rohit Mittal, Nisha Merchant and Umesh Vashisht's creative collections caught everyone's eye. Freshness of colors and clothes made a new and modern statement for both men and women.
The event was not only an update on the Indian fashion industry but also an event with a cause -- veteran designer Krishna Mehta championed for the physically challenged, while Falguni and Shane spread awareness regarding the growing cases of breast cancer .
Model turned actors Milind Soman and Rahul Dev, promoted their upcoming fitness gym Breathe in Mumbai. When asked about future plans, Soman revealed that he was starting "Label M with Madhu Jain as the designer."
Behind the scenes
Super models Carol Gracias, Sapna Kumar and Bhavna Sharma gracefully walked the ramp flaunting their ravishing outfits and leaving the crowd in awe.
What does it take to set the ramp ablaze? SATimes caught up backstage with Vimi Joshi, Senior Makeup artist of MAC before the Rajesh Pratap Singh show. "Lots of effort and dedication goes into creating the right look. It could take about three hours to get the complete the face, hair and make up done. However, a quick touch up of three minutes is enough to ready the models for different outfits for one show," Joshi explained. She also said: "Makeup hues and colors are decided on the basis of the model's attire." The artist also did the make up at the Paris Fashion Week earlier this year.
We also caught a glimpse of make-up guru and director of MAC, Mickey Contractor, creating magic with his brushes. Watching Contractor prepare the models for the show, revealed the power of his swift brush strokes that not only set the needed look to match the attire but also gave confidence to the models.
The grand finale
Manish Arora's show Circus was the grand finale of WIFW. In typical Manish style, the collection had a vivid array of mini skirts, rotating carousel dresses with Indian elephants embroidered on them, trousers, jackets and jumpsuits with varied techniques of embroidery. The stage was set up in Red and White colors with a 3D projection of a clown in Manish Arora costumes. The background music was inspired by Bollywood movie songs and a live band from the UK.
The story continues...
After Delhi, the fashion focus shifted to Mumbai, where the Lakme India Fashion Week (LIFW) kicked off at the NCPA auditorium on Oct 20. The event was a riot of talent as designers such as Deepika Gehani, Vineet Bahl, Ashmita Marwa, Tarun Tahiliani, Krishna Mehta, and Sabyasachi Mukherjee showcased their take on fashion for the coming season.
The week began with designers Shantanu and Nikhil portraying their collection, a combination of drama and beauty with their stunning women's wear in Red, Black and Gray. Their menswear included Sherwanis in black and Jodhpuri jackets.
Huge chandeliers against a glittering black backdrop provided the set for Tarun Tahiliani's Levi's collection. Tahiliani set the ramp on fire by lending new age styling to conventional denim. Incredible beaded jeans, denim hot pants and jackets studded with gold coins and Swarovski crystals were some of his most talked about designs this year. The finale showcased a denim bride in bleached white jeans covered with jeweled chains and crystals worn by Bollywood's Sonam Kapoor.
Falguni and Shane's feminine collection mostly used floral designs. Waistcoats, funky frocks, halters in silk, velvet, chiffon and satin came together to create a warm and fuzzy look for winter.
Ruchi Mehta's exclusive pebble and palm motifs wowed the audience.
Pink, Brown, Gray, Mauve and Beige ruled at LIFW. Celebrities Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut, Mugdha Godse were among the few who walked the ramp.
Day three, Oct 22, was the "Menswear Day." Off-late the average Indian male has become more fashion conscious and the fashion community doesn't want to ignore this up-coming class. As passionate as women are about dressing for occasions, men are also expanding their choices with an increased availability of styles and varieties. Featured designers included Lecoanet Hemant, Arjun Khanna, Troy Costa, and Raghavenda Rathore among others.
The LIFW advisory board members included some of the big names from fashion: Dr Darlie O'Koshy, Director NID; Pradip Hirani of Kimaya; Alka Nishar of Aza; Wendell Rodricks; Arjun Khanna; Narendra Kumar; Anil Chopra, advisor, Lakme; Ravi Krishnan, consultant to IMG; and Vikram Raizada of IMG.
Another baby on the block this year was the Delhi Fashion Week, which has been launched by the Fashion Foundation of India. It was held at the DLF Centre, adjacent to Emporio Mall in New Delhi from October 14-18. The show was relatively new to the industry and with not many big names, yet it managed to leave a mark on the attendees.
It was indeed a colorful October for the country, which saw the amalgamation of beauty, fashion, celebration of Indian culture, talent and brilliance under one roof with two annual events and the maiden Delhi Fashion Week, leading to the gradual ending of a truly memorable month which will end with Diwali festivities. It not only showcased what India has to offer to the world of fashion, but was a also a testament to how India fashion has grown over the many years and how the designers have taken clues from the West and made their creations in every sense – international.
Nikki Rattan/SATimes
Photos courtesy LIFW, WIFW
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