Lakme
India Fashion Week gets off to a rollicking start
Bollywood divas, business
moguls, style gurus and socialites splash
glamour to a hue of lissome models
Mumbai,
July 18: India's biggest fashion extravaganza - the Lakme India
Fashion Week 2003 - got off to a scintillating start in Mumbai on
Friday (July 18) with Bollywood style icon Rocky S displaying his
Goth-inspired 'Street Vamp' with attitude collection. The collection
varied from cut off pants on men and women, asymmetrical hemlines,
just below sea level to knee skimming , 60s style graphic prints,
streamlined cargos, Indian embroidery and sequinery.
The
prevailing colour palette for Rocky-S was somber grey and black with
pink and baby pinks tones with splashes of white.Guests included model-turned
Bollywood actresses Diya Mirza and Suman Ranganathan, leading industrialists
and a clutch of domestic and international buyers from far-flung countries
like Israel and Canada.
A
lot of buyers who were impressed with the collection said they would
like to take Indian fashion to Israel. "I think it is very interesting
thing to put together the designer, the manufacturers, also the political
administration because you are going to build up the business for
the future...I think India will prove more. It is a huge country.
Designers are at the same time ethnic, as they know what do they need
for India, as designers they must be open to not only trends, but
fashion as to what's going on in the world," said Izzy Shani of Israel-based
Alliance Merchandising Company.
The
show was an instant hit with the Bollywood moghuls and all those who
came to catch the action live. "I loved the collection. I liked the
whole stalking look with the socks and all...very feminine clothes
yet very boisterous ... interesting ... very interesting," said Diya
Mirza, a Bollywood actress and former Miss Asia Pacific in 2001.
"The whole thing was good ... I think he was edgy, he was ... I am
really really impressed. I would love to wear these clothes ...,"
said Anarostia, a buyer from Australia. Flashes of bare skin, sexy
pouts and sassy struts are expected to draw India's trendy set to
the shows. But the real business of the event - now in its fourth
year - will be conducted away from the spotlights.
Military
styles will dominate several collections with designer Aki Narula
fusing combat prints with soft feminine fabrics and Manish Arora contrasting
fluorescent pink and green blouses with army-style pants. Nearly 60
Indian designers are slated to showcase their ready-to-wear collections
at the event that is expected to draw 15,000 spectators.
Some
of the big name potential buyers expected to attend the show include
luxury conglomerate Moet Hennessy-Louis Vuitton and British clothing
retail giant Marks and Spencer. A study by KPMG Consulting has forecast
Indian designer wear sales could jump to 216 million dollars over
the next decade from just 39 million dollars now. But that would still
only be a fraction of the 35-billion dollars global fashion market.
Indian
imprint in Ramani's stylish fashion collection
Mumbai,
July 19: Ramani's models wore India on their chest, heart and
almost everywhere as they took a fashion odyssey from dusty pinks
running through to wines leading into oranges, then khaki and finally
shimmering black. Ramani, whose verbose glamour has found favour with
some of the leading Bollywood actresses and actors, showed a stylish
collection with a distinctly Indian feel for the Indian woman. Her
collection of fluid pieces in layering bondage, punk and combat camouflage
presented with a touch of humour on her native Sindhi community, was
used to devastating effect on the audience.
Ramani
said the collection was aimed at the woman who wanted to dress up
in something sexy but at the same time very Indian when she goes to
a traditional outing. She feels good because she looks great and draws
admiring looks from those around her. Some of Bollywood's sexiest
divas including Pooja Bedi and Sameera Reddy were there to cheer their
designer friend while family friend Arun Nayyar specially dropping
by for a peek without girlfriend Liz Hurley. Nayyar said the clothes
were very international, and would travel well outside India. "I really
liked Malini's clothes...I really liked them...she's a friend of mine
also...I liked the second show also....These kind of clothes are going
to sell abroad," Nayyar said. Pooja Bedi said she found the collection
very hep, funky, stylish and extremely wearable.
Ramani's
fabrics ranged from chiffons to stretch to hues of cotton with a lot
of block printing and embroidery. Each creation would cost somewhere
between 1,000 and 25,000 rupees with sarees dominating the upper end
of the price point.
Back-to-back
with Malini Ramani was another Delhi-based designer Rana Gill's show
where the palette was mainly monochromatic as she tried to re-create
the 80s look pioneered by global style icons Madonna and others. Although
there was little that was startlingly new in terms of silhouette or
theme, some of the details in Rana's collection was enchanting and
the collection was innovatively styled. The result was an Indo-Oriental
feel, with some delicious China inspired brocades and Japanese Obistyle
corsets. Especially beautiful were three tops: the first in an ethereal
off white chiffon ruched at the upper arm, then a very glam 80's backless
drape top in white georgette with bold black beading at the throat.
The highlight of her show was a white cotton kurta belted under the
bust with a slivery spangled belted long white cotton tiered skirt.
Nearly
60 Indian designers are slated to showcase their "pret-a-porter" or
ready-to-wear collections at the event that is expected to draw 15,000
spectators. Some of the big name potential buyers expected to attend
the show include luxury conglomerate Moet, Hennessy-Louis Vuitton
and British clothing retail giant Marks and Spencer.
The
biggest names - Ritu Kumar, Meera and Muzaffar Ali, Hemant Trivedi,
Suneet Verma and Wendell Rodricks - have yet to show their collections.
India Fashion Week showcases fewer internationally-known designers
than Paris, New York and Milan - relying instead on its reputation
as the breeding ground for tomorrow's Indian stars.
-ANI
