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Five new designers showcase their talent at India
Fashion Week
New Delhi:
Five new designers from across the country showcased their
talent on third day of the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week
(WIFW) here on Friday. Ameet Sikka, Neetu Gupta, Samant Chauhan,
Shubhra and Zubair Kirmani displayed 12 garments each during
a dedicated slot, the Hi-5 category, a chance to show their
creativity, quality and design edge in both prjt and diffusion
lines. First runner up at the Asian Young Designer Contest
SFW'05, Samant Chauhan's passion for natural fibers was evident
in his collection. Inspired by the Khajurao temple, he focused
on the erotica of Kamasutra and brought to them life in his
collection by digital printing on Bhagalpur silk. With colours
like browns, whites, and crhmes teamed with dull gold, the
effect was magnificent. "It's on the Kamasutra. I had started
work on the Kamasutra theme and then I have taken inspiration
from the Khajurao temple and that's the reason I'm using the
masks and the layers and the interlacing and the interloping
of the whole lot of knits I have used... Fabric is 100 percent
raw Bhagalpur silk, which I have sourced from, yarn I have
sourced from Bhagalpur.... It's a digital print on it," said
Chauhan. Neetu and Raj from Bangalore were futuristic in their
feel, creating a basic bouffant silhouette with winter jackets,
scarves, jersey knits and pants in a colour palette of grey
accentuated by deeper shades of red and maroon. "Not really,
we followed what the heart of 'Ravage' is, which is generally
textures and layering and we've given it a futuristic look
this time... it's a great feeling and a big high," said Neetu
Gupta of Ravage.
Ameet Sikka, specializing
in woman's wear, laid special emphasis on cut and form, using
a mix of fabrics and textures. Her colours were muted with
whites, greys and black dominating the collection. Ruffles
and layers added much structure designs, also accentuating
a woman's feminity. Shubhra's collection was a representation
of modern day funk with layering being the key word. Slim
jeans, skirts, scarves, and leg warmers were given an interesting
look with keen detailing. The outfits were accessorized with
belts and big handbags. Zubair Kirmani, who hails from Kashmir,
beautifully blended contemporary minimalism with classic heritage.
Short tunic dresses, simple straight pants, shirts tucked
into pleated skirts in colours like black, rust and grey,
presented an incredibly wearable collection. This was a a
golden opportunity for these designers to show their creativity
and mettle to India and the world. "That's what fashion weeks
are all about, to give a platform to all the designers. That
is why we have so many of them here. I think this is the right
platform for them; this is the easiest way to stardom. Guess
what happened to Sabyasachi when the Fashion Design Council
of India, when he came here he became a star overnight. And
a lot of other people I think Anshu Arora Sen, the same thing
happened to many of them who are now established," a guest
at the fashion show said. Over 80 international buyers from
19 countries and 100 domestic buyers are taking part at the
Fashion Week this year, also boasting the highest ever participation
of 87 designers.
-Mar 23, 2007
Themes dominate designer inspirations on
second day of Fashion Week
New Delhi:
Poignant themes dominated the designers' collections on
the second day of the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week in
New Delhi on Thursday. Designers from the country's fashion
circuit displayed an interesting blend of inspiration, expression
and wearibility in the clothes that were showcased during
the second day of India's glamorous fashion fiesta. Mandira
Virk's collection conveyed a palette of opulent history with
the designer rethinking old techniques and giving them a contemporary
look. Elegance and sophistication struck a clever balance
in A-line dresses, box-pleated balloon shapes, tulip skirts,
cropped poet sleeves, panelled dresses and vintage coats that
emphasized a women's feminity with gathered silhouettes. "For
starters it's as you have seen... it's an entirely different
collection what I have done. It is all-western, catering to
the international market and is called 'Nostalgia Opulence'.
It's all about reinventing old techniques and applying it
to a contemporary look. So, the overall look is very feminine
and very elegant. It's very classy and very lady-like collection.
The colours that I have used are cherry red, copper, chocolate,
and blue, which are very warm colours and perfect for autumn
and winter," said Mandira Virk. Chennai-based Rehane made
an intense statement with boldly dynamic designs in her Autumn/Winter
collection. The mood of the collection was somber and menacingly
self-absorbed with colours varying from midnight blue to deep
crimson and vermilion. She used velvets, georgettes, satins,
organza and silk and embellished them with wool embroideries,
glass units, ribbons, and opaque sequins besides finishing
up with ruching, ruffling and quilting. "Basically in my collection
I have not followed the trend that everyone seems to be following
that is the skirt top thing. The clothes I make are very bold,
the embellishments are bold, and there are a lot of occult
symbols on the clothes if you look at them carefully. These
(clothes) are definitely not for the faint- hearted. It is
basically a very bold collection," said Rehane.
Many celebrity
guests like designer duo Meera and Muzaffar Ali, columnist
and talk-show host Pooja Bedi, and Bollywood actor Gul Panag
made an appearance at several of the fashion shows, liking
immensely the clothes they saw. "I have been following Mandira's
work for a long time because she is also a very good friend
of mine and I make it a point not to miss any of her shows.
I have to say that this was her best work till date. It was
different in the sense that it was more evening (wear), it
had a very Red carpet feel to it, which is very popular in
Hollywood and much overseen here," said Gul Panag, Bollywood
actor. New Delhi designer Ashish Pandey picked a theme that
struck a chord with most guests. His collection, called 'Tears
in Heaven', was inspired by children who have lost their fathers
in military operations, terrorist activity or any other form
of violence. He picked colours like old rose, forest green,
gray and brown and structured them with soft embroideries
to bring the out the essence of his inspiration. Puja Arya,
a well-known fashion force from Jaipur, wove a magical spell
with her incredibly feminine creations. Inspired by 18th century
dish or tea towels, she used kitchen motifs on satin, silk,
chiffon, and taffeta to create short mini dresses, empire
lines, flared pants, mini pleated skirts and mid-length jackets
that were extremely wearable. Others designers like the famous
Tarun Tahiliani and the designer duo of Ashima-Leena also
showcased their collections later in the day.
-Mar 22, 2007
India Fashion Week opens in Delhi
New Delhi:
India's top fashion designers have come together to showcase
their Autumn/Winter collection at the India Fashion Week,
which kicked off here on Wednesday. The week-long extravaganza
opened with a gala show by designer Malini Ramani. This was
followed by Aparna Chandra, Manav Gangwani, Siddharth Tytler,
Arshiya Fakih, Rabani and Rakha, Anju Modi, Rohit Gandhi,
Rahul Khanna, Ritu Kumar, Ranna Gill and Rohit Bal. Ramani's
collection was a shift from her usual 'in your face bling'
with the designer having toned down the overall look. A modification
was seen in everything from the colours and cuts to the style
itself. She picked subtle shades of green like mint and olive,
winter whites, caramel and black, spicing these up with patchwork,
ribbon embroidery, and appliqui work. "Another unique thing
is what I'm wearing right now, which is like ribbon embroidery.
Everything has a tropical feel; I've stuck to my resort theme.
Like the palm leaf I'm wearing but in a winter kind of way.
I want to keep that. It's for somebody who likes to dress
up and look good, likes to be Indian, and wants to show that
they are Indian, a glamorous person who feels good about themselves,"
said Ramani.
Aparna Chandra
also chose to work with a bold and vast colour palette, but
gave embroideries a miss. She focused on creating loose-fitting
comfortable ensembles for the evening that can be mixed and
matched to suit the taste of every fashion conscious woman.
"It's different for me because it's very formal, very evening,
unusual for me to do. I did many colours. I didn't tie the
collection with one colour this time because that's the easier
way to do a show. I tried to do 30 different colours for 30
outfits but yet try and tie them together somehow and I think
it worked for whatever little I saw. I think every piece is
wearable; it can be adapted to be worn differently by different
people. I think some of the dresses can be converted into
little 'kurtis' (short tops) with bottoms. According to me
everything is wearable," said Chandra. Fashion designers welcomed
the new look for the season, approving the bright colours
and heavy embroideries. "The bright colours that Malini used,
Aparna used colours from the same palette but there was no
embroidery... just matt sequins. I think that this is the
most important part, there are two designers and both have
used colour and both have interpreted it in two different
ways. That is the beauty of it. It's stunning," said Vikram
Phadnis. Over 80 international buyers from 19 countries and
100 domestic buyers are taking part at the Fashion Week this
year, also boasting the highest ever participation of 87 designers.
Fashion shows in India split four years ago as Wills Lifestyle
began hosting a new show in New Delhi while Lakme continued
to sponsor the event in Mumbai every year. Two decades ago,
haute couture was a word that barely existed in the Indian
vocabulary and fashion stopped at ethnic home-spun cotton
outfits made by neighbourhood tailors. The Indian high fashion
clothing saw a boom in the 90's when designers Ritu Kumar,
Rohit Bal and Tarun Tahiliani took Indian styles to the international
map. Today, the fashion design industry is worth 1.8 billion
dollars, growing at 20-30 percent in the 35-billion-dollar
global fashion market.
-Mar 21, 2007
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