Lakme Fashion Week wraps up with sculpt, sheer, shimmer

While some of the fashion shown on the ramp could be better described as outlandish, there were designers who hit the right style notes.

After five days of non-stop fashion shows, the Fall/Festive 2015 edition of Lakme Fashion Week closed on Sunday. This Mumbai based fashion event is now its 15th year, and is known for being the most glamorous fashion week in the Indian fashion calendar. For Lakme Fashion Week, designer Tarun Tahiliani simply called his collection, "Easy Glamour". Not the most original name, but it fitted the mood of the event this season. Wendell Rodricks, did not show at this edition of Lakme Fashion Week, but is one of India's best known designers and last year won a Padma Shri for his contribution to fashion; he says, "A Mumbai fashion event is connected to Bollywood. and in turn Bollywood's version of glamour. This will not change in the future and you expect more bling."

Sequins, sheer, mirrors and hues of gold ensured that there was plenty of bling at Lakme Fashion Week. Says Wendell, "Women in this part of the world want to shine. The industry is simply supplying that glamour." Starting with Abu Jani- Sandeep Khosla's "Jawani Jaaneman" presentation - their overuse of sequins and disco style presentation received mixed views, the opening show of the week set the tone for it to be a season to shine.

While some of the fashion shown on the ramp could be better described as outlandish, there were designers who hit the right style notes. Namrata Joshipura's "Insta Light" collection used the concept of shine in an innovative way, starting the show with swimwear that came alive with strategically placed bulbs, and unveiled a mirrored runway that was then lit up with LED lights. It was the perfect backdrop for her iridescently splendid wraps and drop-waist dresses. When Shraddha Kapoor came down the ramp in a sparkling white jumpsuit she literally lit the whole room up. Said the designer, "I make clothes for a strong, sexy and confident woman. The outcome may be glam and I am happy about that, though glam is not in mind when I design a collection."

Monisha Jaising infused a feel of  the South of France into her collection. Her muse for the collection was Brigitte Bardot, probably one of cinema's most celebrated sirens. Plunging necklines, strategically placed cut-outs, sheer embellished tunic dresses, cable knits teamed with glittering gowns, it was literally the stuff a destination bride dreams of. But it was not all about romance, as we saw glamour's more noir side too. Nachiket Barve's use of studs on gothic inspired mini dresses and Arjun Saluja's use of discreet shimmer and gold patches, proved that sparkle can also have a dark side. Gaurav Gupta opted to stay with a clean black, white, red and grey colour palette and though this was a collection more about shape than shine, the subtle use of silver and gold shimmer on white ensembles added a whimsical feel of waves to his very architectural collection. It seems the lesson to take away from Lakme Fashion Week, is that there is nothing wrong with indulging in sparkle, as long as you keep shapes clean, simple yet innovative. As Nachiket says, "I try to balance maximal surface with a streamlined shape." The key fashion words this season seem to be sculpt, sheer and shimmer.

INDIA SHINING



Many young designers are trying to give Indian fashion a new vocabulary. When Fashion Week first started we either saw bridal lenghas on the ramp, or copy-cat versions of styles previously seen on the catwalk of Europe. With Lakme Fashion Week being a platform that likes to promote young talent there's always new names to look out for. Many young designers are managing to successfully marry the best of India's textile, silhouettes and rich sense of colour with the ease, chic and contemporary style of international fashion, and creating a new language. Among them are Jodi, Quirkbox and Dhruv Kapoor and Bodice by Ruchika Sachdeva. The use of print over surface texturing is favoured by many younger designers, with Masaba Gupta referencing Husain and Salita Nanda referencing Andy Warhol. Bodice, a four-year-old label, was the winner of this year's coveted Vogue India's Fashion Fund. Ruchika's restrained approach to fashion speaks of maturity far beyond her years. Shirts were over-layered with box over-tops and teamed with midi skirts, slouchy jackets and easy trousers in a very India Inspired neutral palette of copper, rust and marigold, and the entire collection was made in hand-woven "Made in India" textiles.

SEEING RED



Sonali Bendre and Diana Penty attend LFW.
What can be more festive than the colour red? And with fashion playing it very safe this season it was natural to see so much red on the ramp. Be it Gaurang's over-use of the colour that in places was an eye-sore, to AM:PM's clever use of this bright hue as a break for their otherwise mostly monochrome collection or Tarun Tahilani's more fashion forward red sari jumpsuit, it seems you cannot have enough red in your wardrobe. Even off ramp many of the celebrities who attended the week opted to wear this bright hue. Sonali Bendre took a more casual take to this strong colour, by mixing a red jacket with denims whereas Diana Penty went red from head to toe.

THE ORIENTAL EXPRESS



Japan has always had an influence on international fashion, and shares a very special relationship with India. Like India, Japan has strong sense of its own style heritage that is still celebrated today. Which is why you will repeatedly see Japanese references in Indian fashion and this season both Shruti Sancheti and Myoho (pictured) referred to the Orient in their collections. Obi belts over a sari, dress or on jacket, kimono sleeves or a high collar, is an easy chic way that can translate from the catwalk to your closet in achieving this look.
sujata@khaleejtimes.com