 "High design")
OLD-WORLD AFFLUENCE
Manish Malhotra
This Mumbai-based fashion guru decided to give traditional wedding colours of red and deep maroons a miss and dressed the bride in royal blue, burgundy and beige instead. Raw silk was textured and dyed along with velvet to create restrained volume in his crystal-studded lehengas with silver taar ka kaam. He retained the old world regalia in menswear as well with embroidered collars on structured sherwanis and gold-tipped Oxfords. "In the 1930s, affluence was celebrated. So I made a play with the backs - sexy, deep and sensuous. I am a fan of Kashmiri embroidery and chikankari, so these resurfaced on lehengas along with lace, net and cutwork," says Malhotra. The piece de resistance of the show was the presence of Shah Rukh Khan on the catwalk, along with his Chennai Express co-star Deepika Padukone. The latter wore a dazzling three-tiered diamond neckpiece especially designed in Bikaner. Also special were the Christian Louboutin shoes that were made exclusively for the show by the master himself.
HOMAGE TO FEMININITY
Anju Modi
The veteran designer, known for her women-oriented inspirations, delved into mythology to pay a tribute to a woman who withstood ignominy with grace - Draupadi. "I do believe women have superpowers, they are an embodiment of devi shakti, femininity, and I wanted to portray this through my collection," says Modi. She crafted gold in the form of Arjuna with his mighty bow and arrow and pinned it on the lapels of men's sherwanis. Long lehengas with natty corsets and A-line Anarkali-style dresses were paired with jackets sporting chariot and horse prints. Modi made extensive use of gold foil to give the dresses an antiquated look. Natural materials like raw silk and khadi were used, as the designer abhors the use of anything synthetic. Red emerged in its fiery best on her lehengas to depict Draupadi. The jewellery, designed by her and executed by Amrapali, boasted motifs borrowed from the Mahabharata - the sudarshan chakra along with chariot-wheel hair clips. "It was powerful imagery from the epic that I transformed into accessories. I also used the Nandi and other temple motifs, in keeping with the theme," says Modi.
DESIGNS ON THE SARI
Anamika Khanna
Beautiful craftsmanship with a contemporary take best defines Anamika Khanna's saris. "It is not that these drapes can't be moulded; you just have to think of a way of making them global," she says. So the Maharashtrian sari was transformed into a dhoti-style dress, the edgy Mohawk was her take on the bridal accessory of maang tikka and the traditional south Indian butter-coloured sari too emerged with a gold belt, fastened just a little above the waist in true Khanna style. Zardozi was replaced by pearls, while net and lace were added for an understated appeal. She also reinvented the sharara by metamorphosing it into a lace palazzo and teamingit up with antique, intense flower print tunics. "Isn't that what every Indian woman wants? Comfort with style. And it is the year of the collar and back, so I kept the first embroidered, high and stiff and the latter sexy and sheer," she says.
FUNKY AND IRREVERENT
Manish Arora
I am a hunter, the suggestive number from Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur played in the background as Arora presented his first-ever folksy take on India in "Indian for Manish". It brought out his unadulterated love for gold and pink and everything vibrant. The presentation was larger than life in true Arora style with cutouts of swans and elephants and the famous carousel which had caught the eye of singer Katy Perry (she had worn it to the MTV Music Europe Awards many moons ago). "My bridal line is a first for me too. I didn't want the bride to be struggling with all that embroidery, so I introduced T-shirts that can be worn with lehengas and lycra blouses with saris in unconventional colours such as neon, tangerine, parrot greens, embellished with stones, crystals and sequins," he says, "I would have to say it is a commercial collection. When I do something I do it hundred per cent, there are no shortcuts. And I think Anurag Kashyap is a brilliant man from the grassroots, so the songs matched my kitschy theme."
DELICATE DESIGNS
Varun Bahl
Abandoning the bling for black, Varun Bahl's collection received applause from critics and audiences alike. His all black sequences - dresses with high slits - were paired with delicate floral printed pants that plainly stated that bright colours don't necessarily need to be a bridal staple. He also got a little help from the lissome Freida Pinto, dressed in a natty black ensemble posing next to a sparkling new Audi that was launched on the occasion.
Manish Malhotra
This Mumbai-based fashion guru decided to give traditional wedding colours of red and deep maroons a miss and dressed the bride in royal blue, burgundy and beige instead. Raw silk was textured and dyed along with velvet to create restrained volume in his crystal-studded lehengas with silver taar ka kaam. He retained the old world regalia in menswear as well with embroidered collars on structured sherwanis and gold-tipped Oxfords. "In the 1930s, affluence was celebrated. So I made a play with the backs - sexy, deep and sensuous. I am a fan of Kashmiri embroidery and chikankari, so these resurfaced on lehengas along with lace, net and cutwork," says Malhotra. The piece de resistance of the show was the presence of Shah Rukh Khan on the catwalk, along with his Chennai Express co-star Deepika Padukone. The latter wore a dazzling three-tiered diamond neckpiece especially designed in Bikaner. Also special were the Christian Louboutin shoes that were made exclusively for the show by the master himself.
HOMAGE TO FEMININITY
More From This Section
The veteran designer, known for her women-oriented inspirations, delved into mythology to pay a tribute to a woman who withstood ignominy with grace - Draupadi. "I do believe women have superpowers, they are an embodiment of devi shakti, femininity, and I wanted to portray this through my collection," says Modi. She crafted gold in the form of Arjuna with his mighty bow and arrow and pinned it on the lapels of men's sherwanis. Long lehengas with natty corsets and A-line Anarkali-style dresses were paired with jackets sporting chariot and horse prints. Modi made extensive use of gold foil to give the dresses an antiquated look. Natural materials like raw silk and khadi were used, as the designer abhors the use of anything synthetic. Red emerged in its fiery best on her lehengas to depict Draupadi. The jewellery, designed by her and executed by Amrapali, boasted motifs borrowed from the Mahabharata - the sudarshan chakra along with chariot-wheel hair clips. "It was powerful imagery from the epic that I transformed into accessories. I also used the Nandi and other temple motifs, in keeping with the theme," says Modi.
DESIGNS ON THE SARI
Anamika Khanna
Beautiful craftsmanship with a contemporary take best defines Anamika Khanna's saris. "It is not that these drapes can't be moulded; you just have to think of a way of making them global," she says. So the Maharashtrian sari was transformed into a dhoti-style dress, the edgy Mohawk was her take on the bridal accessory of maang tikka and the traditional south Indian butter-coloured sari too emerged with a gold belt, fastened just a little above the waist in true Khanna style. Zardozi was replaced by pearls, while net and lace were added for an understated appeal. She also reinvented the sharara by metamorphosing it into a lace palazzo and teamingit up with antique, intense flower print tunics. "Isn't that what every Indian woman wants? Comfort with style. And it is the year of the collar and back, so I kept the first embroidered, high and stiff and the latter sexy and sheer," she says.
FUNKY AND IRREVERENT
Manish Arora
I am a hunter, the suggestive number from Anurag Kashyap's Gangs of Wasseypur played in the background as Arora presented his first-ever folksy take on India in "Indian for Manish". It brought out his unadulterated love for gold and pink and everything vibrant. The presentation was larger than life in true Arora style with cutouts of swans and elephants and the famous carousel which had caught the eye of singer Katy Perry (she had worn it to the MTV Music Europe Awards many moons ago). "My bridal line is a first for me too. I didn't want the bride to be struggling with all that embroidery, so I introduced T-shirts that can be worn with lehengas and lycra blouses with saris in unconventional colours such as neon, tangerine, parrot greens, embellished with stones, crystals and sequins," he says, "I would have to say it is a commercial collection. When I do something I do it hundred per cent, there are no shortcuts. And I think Anurag Kashyap is a brilliant man from the grassroots, so the songs matched my kitschy theme."
DELICATE DESIGNS
Varun Bahl
Abandoning the bling for black, Varun Bahl's collection received applause from critics and audiences alike. His all black sequences - dresses with high slits - were paired with delicate floral printed pants that plainly stated that bright colours don't necessarily need to be a bridal staple. He also got a little help from the lissome Freida Pinto, dressed in a natty black ensemble posing next to a sparkling new Audi that was launched on the occasion.