Up-and-coming designers, equipped with unique design aesthetics, made an impact among a flurry of established names at the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) winter-festive 2015 edition here. Innovation was the key at the five-day fashion extravaganza, which attracted fashionistas and Bollywood's glitterati alike.
LFW has, for years, platformed young and innovative designers like Masaba Gupta and Nachiket Barve. This time too, there were some fresh names that impressed and made a statement with their creations.
Purnima Lamba, head of innovations, Lakme India, shared they always try to emphasise on young designers and their capabilities.
"We are all about discovering the future of fashion. We are also keen that people who have started with us should come back to us. For instance, Nachiket Barve, who showcased at our platform this time. It's always nice to have something new to look forward to. That's really one of the idea," Lamba told IANS.
A high-point in that direction was the 19th edition of the Gen Next show -- with designers mentored by ace couturier Anita Dongre and presented by INIFD -- which witnessed collections with a mix of creativity, style, innovations and trend setting directions.
Ajay Kumar's high-on-kaleidoscopic prints presented menswear for the 21st century male through a collection called 'Consonance and Dissonance'. With black and white and loads of kaleidoscopic patterns, which were intricate and geometric with florals, birds and beasts, the designer unleashed a colour story of lotus pink, cranberry, parrot green with hints of bright red.
Kochi-based designer Jebin Johny showcased 'KathaKubuki', a dramatic amalgamation of two dance forms -- Kathakali from India, and Japan's Kabuki. The eight very feminine and quirkily designed pieces had fusion prints in bold colours of red, blue, black on a white backdrop in 90 percent cotton and 10 percent lycra. Form-fitting silhouettes were a hit here.
Yet another eye-catcher was Karishma Shahani Khan, a graduate from the London College of Fashion. She focusses on design as a form of storytelling for her label Ka-Sha, under which she presented a collection with multiple inspirations of the past at the fashion gala.
Working with unique fabric manipulation with pleats and smocking playing a major role, while the designer worked with stripes and ornamental polkas and layered them cleverly with geometric florals to create 2D and 3D effects. Traditional heritage embroidery in material zari, along with folding and dyeing techniques on silks and cottons, added to the richness of the line.
This year, Delhi-based designers were also seen showcasing at the Mumbai ramp.
Apart from AM:PM and Barve, designer Monisha Jaising showcased her ready-to-wear line at LFW winter-festive 2015. Namrata Joshipura, another Delhi player, aimed to strengthen her Mumbai presence with a metallic-inspired collection at LFW.
Arjun Saluja, Nikasha Tawadey and Sahil Kochhar were the other three Delhi-based designers, who presented their lines at LFW.
Asked if this was an attempt to unite the fashion world, Lamba said: "I think fashion is united. Divide is not there anymore. This time, designers from all over India, including Delhi, Mumbai and Kolkata, showed their collections.
"Anamika Khanna, who was from Kolkata, did our finale last time and this time it was Delhi designer Gaurav Gupta."
What about buyers?
Lamba refrained from revealing much, but said that there was a "mix of buyers" and that "there was a private viewing for the buyers at the venue only".
If the gala was high on fashion, Bollywood was not left behind.
From Kareena Kapoor Khan, Shraddha Kapoor, Shahid Kapoor with wife Mira Rajput, Ileana D'Cruz, Arjun Rampal, Ranna Daggubati, Dia Mirza, Chitrangada Singh, Shilpa Shetty, Tamanaah Bhatia, Esha Gupta, Amy Jackson and many more graced both the ramp and rows.
(Nivedita can be contacted at nivedita.s@ians.in)
