Masaba Gupta & Alia Bhatt
Masaba Gupta & Alia Bhatt

So fashion week fever has started, as day one of Wills India Fashion Week spring/summer opened with Anupama Dayal and Masaba Gupta taking to the ramp. With many senior designers staying away (Tarun Tahiliani, Manish Malhotra, Sabyasachi and Rohit Bal are all “no-shows” for this edition of fashion week), the focus is on the youngsters. This is the time for them to shine. Some seem to know how to use this as an opportunity and others are trying too hard!

Anupama Dayal
Anupama Dayal

The Hits: Nearly all the designers who showed on day one seemed to have got their styling spot-on, which normally only the more experienced designers get right. Anupama Dayal debuted her jewellery line and used bead necklaces as foot ornaments.

Masaba Gupta
Masaba Gupta
Masaba Gupta
Masaba Gupta

Masaba Gupta got all the elements spot-on as she went sporty chic, and completed her look with knee-pads, printed plimsolls, bags and drawstrings.

Urvashi Kaur
Urvashi Kaur
Urvashi Kaur
Urvashi Kaur

Urvashi Kaur let her organic textiles do the talking and the only accessories were beads draped around the wrists and the odd shell chokers.

Urvashi Kaur
Urvashi Kaur

Both Anupamaa and Urvashi used the scarf with élan. Using them around the waist, as a piece of army candy or as a shawl. While the accessory was used to highlight their look, it never over powered and was used with restraint.

Anupamaa
Anupamaa
Anupamaa
Anupamaa

This seems to be the style statement for spring/summer 2014. Accessories added an element of surprise and were not used predictably.

The Misses: Of course, the point of presenting a collection at fashion week is to show something new. But sometimes if you try something that is out of your comfort zone, then it can back-fire. Anaikka was an example. The designer behind this brand, Kanika Saluja started as an accessory designer and has a strong sense of personal style. Always edgy, she has this rebel punk feel to whatever she wears. The use of hardware has been Anaikka’s forte.

Kanika Saluja
Kanika Saluja
Kanika Saluja
Kanika Saluja
Kanika Saluja
Kanika Saluja
Kanika Saluja
Kanika Saluja

This time, she went for a more Indian looking collection. There was the sharara jumpsuit, the kedia baby doll top worn with shorts, and over- exaggerated haath-phools. A little restraint and sophisticated styling may have helped the line. Doing too much can result in turning clothes into costume!