"Jaanisaar'" actress Pernia Qureshi's dance moves impressed Suneet Varma so much that the designer chose to open his show with her act on the finale of BMW India Bridal Fashion Week (IBFW) here.
Inspired by the Topkapi Palace, the setting of the finale show was grand. Going by the work involved in setting the stage, one could make out why the show started almost two hours late.
When IANS asked Varma about the delay, he said with a smile: "Anything beautiful, takes time".
Once the stage was set, Pernia, dressed in a deep blue Anarkali suit, came dancing down the stairs as she matched her moves with her debut film's track "Hamein bhi pyar kar le".
"I've danced to this song so many times that I can do it in my sleep as well. I loved the set, the stairs and enjoyed the space, " Pernia told reporters after the show on Tuesday.
Varma, who deliberately used thread embroidery for the Anarkali so that she could dance freely, said that he was aware of her "ability to dance".
"I've seen her performances and wanted to weave her dance into my show. This was the perfect opportunity," added the designer.
Titled "Couture- A Love Story!", the collection was based on the grandeur of the Ottoman Empire and the beautiful poetry of the renowned poet Omar Khayyam.
The collection was divided into three segments. Starting with "Arzu" - Desire, the colour palette used was deep Persian blues with a hint of beige, ivory and rose.
The silhouettes were long and the embroideries were in resham thread and zari, in elaborate artworks inspired by the tapestries from the palace.
The floor length coats were worn with tiered skirts in soft nets, straight long tunic with sharara pants and short crop jackets in velvet with zardozi borders.
Next up was "Aziz"- Precious. Soft pastels of peach, rose, beige and moss green dominated the segment. The embroideries were in gold and silver kasab thread with beads and kundan stones. The two piece saris in silk georgette had jaal embroidery all over, the long kurtas were worn with shararas.
The final one was "Ahibba"-A Beloved.
The purity of ivory, shades of soft beige and gold Benares silk jacquards with pearls, gold ribbons and Swarovski crystals made up for the last segment.
It had knee length kurtas with wide pants with all over metallic embroidered motifs, cutwork blouses encrusted with pearls and beaded tassels worn with gold and bronze sequin sheeted saris, long floor length jackets in gold with skirts and stoles in peach and rose.
Maroon , fuchsia pinks and vermillion made up for the final line up of the couture collection.
The accessories were eye catching too. They were designed and handmade for the collection. Head dresses in beaten metal in antique shades of gold, ornate pieces of Meenakari jewellery and Swarovski crystals were used in abundance. There were bird-inspired headgears too.
While Pernia started the show in a light weight ensemble,A she walked in the final piece of the collection too.
It took about six months to create the pink lehenga with badla embroidery that she donned, shared the designer.
But she looked extremely comfortable in the attire.
"It's fun walking on the ramp. I don't try to be a model though, " she said.
