The ‘high five’ at LFW

Published August 31, 2014
Sangeeta Bijlani for Anita 
Dongre’s India Modern
Sangeeta Bijlani for Anita Dongre’s India Modern

Afashion week is about gorgeous clothes, glamorous crowds, an elated media and overall a pleasantly languorous time to spend while ogling at the beautiful people. The India’s Lakmé Fashion Week (LFW) Winter Festive show is more like a celebration as it heralds the festive season with the designers displaying their fabulous collections of silk, satin and velvet creations.

This LFW Winter Festive wear was doubly special with some of the top Indian designers showcasing as well as three designers from across the border and two across the oceans — Rizwan Beyg, Sania Maskatiya and Zara Shahjahan from Pakistan and Lydia Pearson and Pamela Easton from Australia. Faiza Samee, also from Pakistan couldn’t make it and in an email, she said: “So disappointed, I’d done such a gorgeous collection — my visa never arrived.”

Neha Agarwal showcases Mille Fleurs with Esha Gupta
Neha Agarwal showcases Mille Fleurs with Esha Gupta

There were a lot of expectations from the debutants and interestingly they didn’t disappoint. The adulation the Pakistani designer trio received from the audience at Mumbai’s Palladium Hotel makes one ponder on the futility of borders and the currency of animosity created by our politicians.

Showcasing her collection called Sakura, an ode to the Cherry Blossoms of Japan, Sania said, “We are thrilled to be participating for the first time in India through Lakmé Fashion Week and are proud to represent the contemporary face of Pakistani fashion. As we look to expand our brand regionally and internationally, platforms such as Lakmé Fashion Week and others give our brand excellent exposure and provide us an opportunity to grow our target audience.”


This season of LFW was a fiesta of fusion of with funky and fun elements with elegance and design, writes Surekha Kadapa-Bose from Mumbai


In her repertoire she had printed tunics, sheer-flared tops, one-shoulder satin tunic, pleated printed organza waistcoats, white palazzo high-waist pants topped with a range of cropped tops and blouses etc. Enhancing the look was a blend of geometric embroidery and great textures which made the clothes look rich and opulent. Her draped printed gown over pants received a thunderous round of applause.

Textile show by Sreejith Jeevan
Textile show by Sreejith Jeevan

The senior most designer in this lot — Rizwan’s brilliantly coloured clothes took many by surprise. His digital print truck art show had both men and women sashaying in jackets, pants, tops, waistcoats, skirts of course myriad coloured accessories like bags, chunky jewellery etc. The collection had a fabulous element of fun and was bang-on wooing the young audience.

What surprised many was the audacious skin show with models sashaying in micro pants, skirts and see-through capes. Bare-torsoed men looked dapper in chinos and bright printed jackets. The colourful shoes matched the fun element.

Zara’s clothes were feminine and ethereal. With lots of Gara embroidery, Swarovski crystals, rhinestones, cutwork and other hand-crafted embellishments, her collection titled The City of Gardens was definitely something the Indians expected to see from Pakistani designers. The classical embroidery Zara showed off in her sari, maxi skirt, kurtis, shararas etc. wowed the viewers. It will quite likely be reflected in the upcoming wedding season.

Lydia Pearson & Pamela Easton
Lydia Pearson & Pamela Easton

The Australian duo Lydia and Pamela had bevy of Indian models walk in a kaleidoscopic of colours. Bright blue, orange, green, brown interspersed with white had modern clothes with exceptional detailing. There were swirling skirts, flouncy dresses, smocks, sack dresses, boleros with very Indian-looking embroidery jackets etc in silks and cottons in their collection titled, BeBop. The young brigade in the audience lapped it up.

Of course most of the Indian lineup was the usual at LFW starting with highly interesting and bold collection from Masaba Gupta and ending with Manish Malhotra with his usual high glam quotient. Walking the ramp for him were Kareena Kapoor-Khan and Varun Dhawan. Even without the presence of Bollywood stars, Malhotra always manages to glam up his show through sheer grandeur.

The most important and impressive segment at LFW were the Indian Handloom and Textile Day and Gen Next. In the textile section we got to see the creations of designers like Sreejith Jeevan, Vaishali Shadangule, Krishna Mehta, Anvila Mishra and others who work with grass root-level crafts people and are trying to preserve old craft. The gen next had debut designers like Arunima Mhaji with elegant whites, Neha Agarwal with funky headgear, Amit Agarwal with his crazy eclectic pieces and a few other designers.

Published in Dawn, Sunday Magazine, August 31, 2014

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