It was great that Rohit Bal decided to do his show at the Grand Hyatt lawns where there was enough space to move around and not bruise knees while trying to get to your seat.
Hanging from the top of the ramp was a conical shaped root-like cut out that later on became the cocoons that the models emerged from. All music was live with a female trio of violinist called Silver Strings that entertained the very glitzy front row. Sussanne Roshan, Mehr Jessia, Arjun Rampal, Abhishek Kapoor & Zaheer Khan, Siddartha Mallya, AD & Sabina Singh, Sabina & Anil Chopra and Imtiaz Khatri were all there to experience Rohit’s latest vision.
Houses like Chanel and Givenchy are known for their couture, well in India Rohit Bal comes the closest to being in their league. His first ivory set of garments in fact had the making of a Riccardo Tisci collection and could well have rivaled him had Rohit concentrated on a 10 garment collection. Instead there was a wide range of looks that each had elements of Rohit’s genius.
Lazer cut fabric has been all over the ramps and again on this stage where it was seen on long voluminous floor length anarkalis and on over coats. The lehengas of this collection were a piece of walking art, and probably just as heavy as an installation too. I loved the white block print on blue section the best, it had a sense of calm as compared to the other looks in the collection.
Once the more sombre colours started to arrive, things changed and the real Rohit showed himself. Anarkalis that grazed the floor teamed with equally long coats and high pony tails, made the models look 10 feet tall. Along with the colour change, so did the music, a live Indian orchestra playing the classical Swan Lake complimented the garments on ramp. The recurrent theme in the collection was the bird, which could be seen in the appliques, the cut work and in the zari borders.
The final walk through was wiped clean of all details, sequins, embroidery….everything, to give way to models who went from light to dark, starting with the first model in ivory and the last model in black. At the end was Sheetal Malhar, who is the high priestess of the ramp in a gorgeous velvet coat and peacock sari. An entertaining show that got a the front row on their feet, and with that was the close to a buzzing Lakmé Fashion Week. See you in a few months Lakmé!