The first day of the Winter-Festive season of Lakme Fashion Week was full of mixed reactions. While most people enjoyed the Gen Next show the most, the Rina Dhaka show was a let-down (Sue Castellino will write about both in another post). The audience enjoyed the vibrancy and fresh ideas by the young designers in the former and conversely, felt Dhaka’s show was jaded with nothing new to offer. Someone even quipped, “It looks like she bought her entire collection from Lajpat Nagar!”
Anyhow, there were a few things that stood out through the day and we at MissMalini take the liberty to enlist them for you…
1) Little Miss Fashionista
When your parents are well-known in the fashion industry, it’s only natural to develop a sense of style, even if you’re barely three feet off the ground. Little Myrah Krishnan – the daughter of Vogue’s Bandana Tiwari and ex IMG main-man Ravi Krishnan – created her own fashion rules by wearing Crocs of different colours. One was green and the other white! We like her independent sense of style and Suri Cruise definitely has competition this side of the Atlantic.
2) Drape
Tarun Tahiliani has made a career out of the draped form and designer Jatin Varma seems pretty clued in to this trend as well. His show at LFW had a lot of drape which has great international appeal. And in a country like India, where everything is worn draped (a saree, a dupatta, a dhoti etc), this collection is bang-on!
3) Glowing Gal
Actress Ayesha Takia came for Archana Kochhar’s show, along with her sister and her mother. What we liked about Ayesha was her fabulous and flawless skin. In fact, she was glowing and it’s rare to come across a person with such luminous radiance. Pray tell us your beauty secrets, Ayesha!
4) Archana Kochhar’s Letters
What stood out most at Archana Kochhar’s show were her mini jackets which had embroidered cut-outs of Devnagiri alphabets. We also spotted actress Bhagyashree wearing one of them (over a saree) as she sat pretty in the front row.
5) Tie Me Up
Actor Mahakshay Chakrabarty (actor Mithun’s son) came along with Celina Jaitly for Archana’s show. He wore a black suit and accessoried it with a black and red striped tie. We liked the burst of colour on basic black but we didn’t like him wearing it with an open-collared shirt. Do please button-up next time, Mimoh!
6) Ruffles Galore
Designer Payal Singhal had a predominantly Indian collection of sarees and lehengas. However, her cocktail dresses with ruffles were easily the show-stealers. While Payal is known for her Indian and Indo-fusion look, her Western silhouettes are perfect for a cocktail evening anywhere in the world.
7) Aki Narula’s Quirky Style
Designer and stylist Aki Narula is known for his quirky style sensibility. So it came as no surprise when we spotted him wearing a pair of brown shorts over white pyjamas. We liked the irreverent fashion statement. What do you think?
8) Skin Is In
Fashion is all about flaunting your curves and showing off your size zero frame. And designer Jatin Varma has the perfect dress for you to show off your streamlined silhouette. Check out this dress with the dramatic cut-away in the side. Skin is definitely in!
9) Feathers Are Fine
Designer Nandita Mahtani is one fashionista who is impeccably dressed and turned-out – ALWAYS! You will never find her with even a strand of hair out of place and she exudes a charm which few are capable off. We spotted her at the VIP lounge wearing a simple top with feathers on one shoulder. Even though her overall look was simplistic, the feathers added a touch of drama. Super!
10) Photographic Back-drop
With a jet black ramp and what looked like humungous tyres for a back-drop, JJ Valaya was the only designer who created dramatic sets for his show. On looking closer, we discovered that they were not tyres but camera lenses that the designer had studded his back-drop with. Very creative!
11) Celina’s hand-painted footwear
Bollywood star Celina Jaitly has always been one of the few B-town folk who dresses to perfection. We spotted her at Lakme Fashion Week wearing a lovely pair of “hand-painted” heels. They footwear had a lovely vintage floral theme on a fawn-coloured base and Celina carried it off with panache!
12) Model Tatoo
Ashish Choudhury, a model from Delhi, sported a lovely tattoo on the back of his lower-leg. “It’s an inscription in Latin which is a philosophy I like to follow,” he tells us. Of course, his denim knee-length shorts were the perfect excuse to show off the lovely work of artistry.
Pix by Ranjit Rodricks for MissMalini