High drama!

doweshowbellyad=0; Sri with Chintan (TOI photo)Well! Here we were on the last day of the Gitanjali-sponsored Lakme Fashion Week.
I could feel the weariness in my bones as I walked in to see the first show on Day 5. GABA (Aneeth Arora and Chinar Farooqi) were the surprise element of the day. Inspired by local fashion, these two designers created a crisp, casual yet extremely chic look, using chanderi fabric.Even though it did not comply with the Spring-Winter look, a definite thumbs-up for their collection.
Black is what turned on Vivek for Viia. Black is ���in���, no doubt. (My friend Laila Lamba confessed that it is the first time she bought black shoes ever!) His use of sequin lining under the sheer-dresses did not scream too much bling. Berets worn as headgear showed up, reminiscent of Ozbek���s last year Fall-Winter collection! "My aim is to put Madras on the fashion map," he declared vociferously.
Quilted bodice on flouncy dresses were showed by Aastha Bahl for Mistletoe. I didn���t quite understand why her show was called ���Breakfast at Tiffany���s Revisited.��� It was the attitude of the silhouettes in her collection, she argued. Big black bangles and shiny bags were used as accessories. Bracelets always add to the personality of the clothes.
Drama, sure there was drama, in Narendra Kumar���s men���s collection. The show started with the male model dressed in Sikhs. The ���Sikhni��� in me warmed up to the bhangra beat watching all the Sardars walk on the ramp for the first time. The piece de resistance was the coloured turbans complementing the clothes. Nari showed racy sporty jackets with slim pants. I also noted a interesting bronze taffeta jacket. "I wanted to show this fabric can be used by men as in the form of a lightweight jacket. One has to break away from the feminity of it," he logically stated. Why Sikhs? "They are the most athletic community and epitomise sport, and this is a sports collection." Way to go Nari!
More drama was seen at Wendell���s show, as Jesse alighted gracefully from a flower-decked swing, lowered from the ceiling. Purism of white (Wendell���s favourite colour) was shown in the form of flowing capes, skirts and trousers with trailing strips of billowing chiffon. My favourite were the frolicsome floral loongis on the men. The finale entries were the four Lakme girls, Yana Gupta, Indrani, Amrit Maghera and Vipasha Agarwal, who represent this beauty brand. Kudos and a big pat on the shoulder to Anil Chopra, who has marketed beauty with fashion in such a clever way. It is undoubtedly an inseparable duo and is indeed an integral part of each other.