Drashta
Marine life has served as inspiration to fashion designers since aeons, and Drashta Sarvaiya is among the most recent ones to have caught the bait (pun intended). At her show at Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2011, Drashta’s focus on marine life reflected in the fluid silhouettes, shell cut-outs and motifs, marine prints and colours that reflect the ocean (think aqua and sea green).
But that wasn’t all. Drashta also played with colours and detailing as she introduced pastels (mauve, pink) and neons (electric, fuchsia) on one-shoulder short and halter neck dresses with touches like capes and crystals.
The most interesting bit of her collection was the expert ruching along with the quirky accessories placed on the waist and neck. The accessories were handmade pieces created from pearl finish and hot neon leather, and coral shell and fish cut-outs. Cute!
Rehane
Rehane, the designer known for her baby doll and cocktail dresses, dared to step out of her comfort zone at Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2011 with a new concept. This all-white collection was created with raw mulmul and kora fabrics and left unfinished with notes to tailors for alterations. (You could read “Check line” and “Cut here” on skirts and blouses).
The models walked barefoot on the ramp in slow motion, their limbs, faces and hair covered in talcum powder. Rehane later said her collection was inspired by the purity of a woman “Meera”. But we also felt that somewhere among the purity was the woman who is lost, struggling to hold on to her innocence and on the verge of being delusional.
Despite the blank colour palette, Rehane had worked meticulously on garment construction and detailing. There were rouches, gathers and pleats on blouses and yokes, uneven hemlines and even cholis with cowls. Silhouettes were mixed, as a tunic was paired with a pencil skirt and a loose cover-up had an empire line gathered body.
We left the show with mixed feelings—a tinge of sadness (the mood was sombre), but happy because we had just seen a designer’s fresh take on fashion.