Trust Manish Malhotra to create something different. The ace designer created an old world charm at the Shree Raj Mahal Jewellers India Couture Week (ICW) with 'Portraits', an amalgamation of vintage embroidery on contemporary silhouttes, and wowed the gathering.
The cherry on the cake was Bollywood's young talents Alia Bhatt and Aditya Roy Kapur, who turned confident showstoppers for him Saturday.
The stage was designed to compliment the collection.
If the wooden three-ramp set-up was elaborate with a chandelier and stylish tea light holders lining the divisions between the ramps, the walls were adorned with different sized empty frames - denoting the line's title.
When models hit the ramp in exquisite creations, it brought to life different expressions of gold - from antique vintage gold to old-world yellow gold and more.
On multiple pieces, the designer used an ethereal touch of Kashmiri Zari work and teamed up some of them with elaborate ivory thread work set against the backdrop of colours like beige, grapevine, emerald, ruby red velvet and tulle.
Malhotra said: "It has a very old world charm...old world intricate embroidery. It took a lot of time. A lot of pieces took inhouse hand embroidery work of about three to four months."
"I thought that the whole take was modern. And by the title, we were talking about portraits, which are really timeless. Tonight is one such timeless moment. It's the first time Aditya and Alia are coming together," he said.
Alia, who has impressed movie-goers and critics alike with each of her films so far and is riding high on the success of "Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania", flaunted a red lehenga so heavily embroidered that she was nervous while walking in it.
Aditya, dressed in gold sherwani, which was again heavily embroidered, looked dapper on the stage.
The duo posed for shutterbugs whole-heartedly as they enjoyed their big moment.
More than the showstoppers, what was intriguing was Malhotra's use of mirror work in the line; his idea of using zari embroidery on a 'turtle' neck of a blouse; and the attention to detail on the work on the back of the costumes. It seemed admirable.
The show received an applause from the audience, which also included celebrities and socialites like Shahnaz Hussain, Vandana Luthra and Ayaan Ali Khan.
When it comes to Malhotra, Bollywood presence is must. And actors Urmila Matondkar and Huma Qureshi brought in the filmdom glamour.
Overall, Malhotra summed it up by saying: "The collection is speaking of Indian couture and bridal. The mirror work is a statement this season, and we are happy to use vintage red - the old world bright red. (There are also colours like) gold, emerald green and ruby red."
