Full and finale?

The first show of Day IV of the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week was a combo show – a sort of a High Five that the week used to do before – only there were six designers in all who showed.
Ashima Singh brought Madhubani paintings on to the ramp. Not only that, she also got the Madhubani painter who did the designs on the clothes to take the bow with her.Interestingly, though Ashima had used the traditional painting technique to embellish her outfits, the cuts were modern and trendy.
Kartikeya and Isha’s sequence saw some drama on the ramp. There was a ballad sequence going on parallel to the outfits’ sequence, which blended well with the whole concept of the show, which was an inspiration from a ballad by the English poet John Keats. The silhouettes, garnished with a mix of applique work and hand embroidery, would make for a nice cocktail soiree wear.
Pratima Pandey showed a profusion of earthy tones – her outfits were mainly in browns and greens. She’d used natural fabrics and tried to blend chikankari with tie and dye techniques. A special mention must be made of the stockings that flaunted tie-and dye techniques.
Shreya Sharma’s collection was an inspiration from 16th century European paintings, architecture and lifestyle. There were splashes of vibrant colours in her collection. The drapes were neat and the outfits, wearable.
Smriti Gupta’s was a feminine collection of flowing georgettes and asymmetric cuts. Smriti had also managed to create a tonal variation of the sea and waves through interesting use of blues – aqua, deep sea and sky blue, and layering.
Taniya Khanuja used jute. She also showed a lot of dresses – with stylised sleeves, ruffled collars, and pleats and cowls.
Ekta and Ruchira’s esoteric collection came on the ramp with dancers in the background performing as whirling dervishes. The collection, divided into two parts, depicted a desire for innovation. The baroque styling worked great and well-executed technical detailing added depth to the clothes. The bio collection was balanced with an urban appeal, while the alluring design collection experimented with traditional embroidery.
Hemant and Nandita showed a cruelty-free collection with PETA. The designer duo added skin-free bags to their collection in a bid to encourage people to look at accessories that do not use leather. They presented dresses and indo-western outfits in multicoloured animal prints, and had animal rights activist Ambika Shukla on the ramp and actress Divya Seth in the front row cheering for their cause.
Khushali Kumar’s collection was all about occasion and eveningwear. Luxury was the operative element in her collection, with embellishments adding to the detailing. She used colours like white, pale onion, black, brown, fuchsia, olive, sea green, orange and red to add exuberance to the clothes.
Anupamaa Dayal’s collection was inspired by Picasso and other cubists. The graphic art on her outfits gave her ample options to play with colours – shades of oranges and greens and greys and blacks. Her separates were interesting – jackets and tunics, wraps and waistcoats.
Nandita Mahtani’s show got Dino Morea back on the fashion week front row. He had come last season too. This is Nandita’s first showing on the WIFW ramp. She showed a glam line, replete with heavily worked upon short dresses and some fine cocktail wear. It was a typical holiday collection and had saw bandhini prints intermingling with butterfly motifs. “Metallics and military chic is what I have focused on,” said Nandita.
Rabani and Rakha went for their usual bling style – and showed a glam range of evening gowns mainly. Always heavy on embellishments, their collection was no different this time either; pearls, crystals, embroideries, sequins... all this and more went to glam up their outfits.
Siddartha Tytler’s collection was dedicated to Aurora, the goddess of dawn. And obviously, copper and gun metal shades were used to indicate the morning shades. But there were intermittent bursts of blues and other shades too.
Arjun Saluja’s clothes bespoke of casual chic. The collection had structured separates that could easily translate into sartorial formalwear. Also, Arjun focused on the formal colours of winter, including navy blue and grey, and created winter looks quite contrary to the pudgy cardigan laden dresses one is used to in winters.
Prashant Verma’s collection was almost a sequel of his show last year, with the designer exploring the angst of human emotions and complexity. The show began with an AV, directed by Prashant and featuring him. The clothes were both powerful and delicate and experimented with a variety of techniques. Using colours like black, wine, olive green, blood red and brown, Prashant tried to create textures like reptilian skin and also experimented with embroideries in wool. Power shoulders, long legs, thick feet, firm backs – all of his signature elements were visible as usual.
Varun Sardana ensured his collection will be talked about. For starters, he removed all the chairs in the initial few rows and made everyone sit on the floor. His ramp too was wide. His collection was totally black – Varun never strayed from the tonal purity of the theme. Kathakali make-up on the faces of the models was his only concession towards colours. His neat, structured outfits, which were very wearable, were such that they could be worn as separates, or as ensembles.
Nandita Basu’s solo show pointed towards Japanese influences, including Utagawa Kuniyoshi, a Japanese art form of woodblock prints and paintings, featuring motifs of landscapes and history tales. Her contemporary western clothes were accented with traditional Japenese surface ornamentation. Colours like olive green, khakhi, tan, cherry red, navy and wine added wintery warmth to the clothes, while Nandita used leather, twills, nets, knits and lurex blended knits in the clothes. The large armholes with detailed sleeves were quite interesting!
The Wills Lifestyle Grand Finale was as usual a pretty crowded affair, with one and all wanting to be in it. And why not, Rajesh Pratap Singh and a grand finale is a combo anyone would want to watch. The show, though it lacked the drama of Manish Arora or the flamboyance of Gudda, stood out for its sheer starkness and bare, minimal approach. The ramp had been widened, and the backdrop was made of hundreds of white garments. The models approached the ramp from four different entry points. The outfits were perfect in styling as usual. But compared to the collection of past few seasons, which saw Rajesh go rather sparse on embellishments and bling, this one had a good dose of glitter and shimmer.
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