The five-day fashion extravanganza kickedoff in Mumbai on Friday

IANS

August 25, 2013

 

From: http://gulfnews.com/about-gulf-news/al-nisr-portfolio/tabloid/lakme-fashion-week-all-about-design-and-craft-1.1223745

 

Designers Shilpa Chavan and Sougat Paulshowcased accessories and ensembles with a new age touch at the five-day LakmeFashion Week (LFW) in Mumbai on Saturday.

 

Popular for her out-of-the-box accessories,Chavan wowed the fashion-conscious audience with her creativity. She usedunconventional materials to showcase a range of beautiful head and neckaccessories, which had a futuristic sensibility.

 

She also turned her attention to the sariand the katori choli, a new style of blouse, with her collection Grey Matter.Silk saris draped in quirky styles and worn with men’s shirts, t-shirts or akatori choli-cum-shirt was the highpoint of the range.

 

Sougat Paul’s Morocco-inspired collectionalso made an impression on the runway.

 

Inspired by Zellige, a terracotta tileformation found in Moroccan architecture, Paul presented a line titled DecodingZellige under his label Soup. The collection redefined geometric forms andshapes in the women’s wear range. Also, detailing played an important role toadd a trendy touch to classic silhouettes.

 

Designer Anushka Khanna’s theme revolvedaround photographer Hashim Badami’s images. The well-known photographer’spictures brought a refined look to designer’s prints and surface textures.

 

There was shimmer and shine for the line ofcocktail wear, which opened with a long navy sweater dress, followed by astrappy mini with hot pants and a layered maxi tube. There were also shortcropped tops and long pencil skirts which gave the line a sexy yetsophisticated touch.

 

Designs exuding the exuberance of the artdeco movement, crispness of the vintage military look and the glitz and glamourof Bollywood also dotted the ramp.

 

Designer Nitya Arora’s label Valliyancelebrated the beauty of the art deco influences of 1920s through anaccessories line. Architecture played an important role in Arora’s designs,which were created beautifully with glass, crystal, pearls, semi-preciousstones, vintage tidbits, copper, brass and gold plating.

 

A Soldier Story, the show by designer SnehaArora, reflected a vintage military theme. The overall look was crisp andtailored in a mix of cotton dobbies, military twills, silks and wool blends.The colours remained totally martial in tones of green, khaki and navy, allblended with burgundy.

 

Designer Karishma Shahani Khan broughtBollywood glamour to the ramp. Inspired by the quintessential Mona Darling, hercollection was titled Maya. The designer has used motifs which added a hint offreedom, symmetry, opulence and mystery to the clothes.

 

Cotton and knits were some of the fabricsused for the range, which varied from skirts, cropped embroidered sleeved tops,dress, peplum blouse and saris.

 

Next in the row was designer Ken Ferns, whocalled his line Moon Rise. He has smartly played with colours like ivory,liquid gold, dusty beige and shades of deep grey to add a romantic feel to thegarments, which are in fabrics like satin, crepe, georgette and silk.

 

His menswear collection was restricted toombre print suits. Bringing his show to its glamorous end was actor Prateik ina stylish printed suit and his Issaq co-star Amyra Dastur, wearing a chiccorset and printed silk skirt.

 

Young designer Nishka Lulla, who showcaseson Friday, was all about unstructured coats and cropped jackets - reflecting a“mature” sensibility.

 

“I think witheach show I am getting mature and the collections showcased today are somemature collections,” said the daughter of popular designer Neeta Lulla. “Styleis something very personal and with my collection, one can mix and match intheir own way.”

 

Her use of prints was interesting as sheused elements of nature like clouds, crows and trees. The look was subtle.

 

On the whole, the line was a blend ofrelaxed shirts, unstructured coats, micro-mini skirts, cropped jackets, ikatembellished t-shirts, oversized pullovers, shirt dresses and wrap skirts.

 

Actress Genelia D’Souza, dressed in one ofNishka’s creations, was spotted in the audience along with Kalki Koechlin.Genelia said she loves Nishka’s work.

 

“I have agreat association with Nishka. She is a very close friend. I love her garmentsand today her collections were so interesting,” she said.