Manish Malhotra
Manish Malhotra’s been using a lot of Kashmiri embroidery and chikankari recently, and for this ramp collection, he continued with the latter, associating with the NGO Mijwan. And there were the usual suspects of colours like ivory, creme, burnt orange, dull shades of red, pink and the like. Some great stuff to look at, but not new.
AM:PM
Ankur and Priyanka Modi stuck to a simple colour palette, but with exotic imagery of god-birds, the Mayan maze, and birds of paradise. Exoticism was balanced with elegant fluid silhouettes, though the designer duo could have taken a few more risks.
Anaikka
The designer tried to capture the multiple facets of a woman through garments crafted for specific personalities, character traits and looks. This ranged from the simple feminine charm to the complex mysterious allure. Two key themes in the collection: attention to detail and strong use of monotones.
Dev R Nil
Clever print mixing in dresses and separates comprised this very wearable collection. The colour palette was restricted to mostly nude, taupe, pale lime, and navy blue with sparks of tangerine and fuchsia.
James Ferreira
Moving away from last year’s tie-and-dye, the designer’s new collection features hand painting by textile artist Bhamini Subramaniam and minimal embellishment. Chic and modern, the draped silhouettes were all seen before.
Kavita Bhartia
The “Romanian” influences is not quite apparent, and the headgear was quite disconcerting. The odd-coloured wigs distracted us from the garments, which were quite likable once you saw beyond the wool-hair.
Rajesh Pratap Singh
Rajesh Pratap Singh experimented with new materials (fabrics and otherwise), used tassellation and various drapes for a slightly futuristic look (big shoulders, surface textures).
SCHON by Sakshee Pradhan
Marking the journey of the sparrow, the rich fabrics and an outfit with some embroidery were the only interesting bits about the collection.
Samant Chauhan
Samant Chauhan attempted to create masterpieces worth royalty with Bhagalpuri silks, “assi kalis” and zardozi embroidery. Are all the garments worth royalty? Are they all masterpieces? The answer to both questions is “No”, though some of them are certainly arisotocratic, if not regal.
Surbhi Chawla
Lots of “influences” in the collection (nomadic, tribal, gypsy), but the common thread to bind them all together was missing.
Accessories of the Day
Nathnis (nose accessories) at Sakshee Pradhan.
Quirky statement earrings at Surbhi Chawla.
Customary Bollywood Appearances of the Day
Parineeti Chopra for Manish Malhotra. Maybe she could have tried to carry the outfit a bit more gracefully?
Diana Penty for Sakshee Pradhan- drab, just like her look in Cocktail.
Manoj Bajpai for Samant Chauhan. Can’t miss the royal weapon there!
WTFashion Outfit of the Day
Is it a bird? Is it a garbage can? No, it’s WTFashion! (Spotted at Khushiz).
