Lounge
Best of Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI: Love and rubbish on the table
Summary
Designers dug into their archives to present ready-to-wear clothing at the recently concluded Lakme Fashion Week. Many missed, some struck goldIt’s not often you see people crying on and off stage after a fashion show. The who’s who of Indian fashion had a hard time collecting themselves when designer Rohit Bal swayed to INXS’ Afterglow on the ramp at end of his showcase, joined by models and showstopper actor Ananya Panday. It was the finale of the five-day Lakme x FDCI Fashion Week at Delhi's Imperial hotel.
Even a fashion novice would have understood the emotion. Bal had been critically ill earlier this year and was back on the ramp after over five years, presenting a collection that prized embroidery over sparkle or sequins. In an era when fashion shows are largely engineered to create viral moments and upstage one another, it was unique to see one that united the fashion industry.
Bal’s collection of 60-odd pieces stretched to size and body inclusive and gender-fluid clothes. One could actually wear the clothes from the line, Kaaynaat: A Bloom in the Universe, off the rack and feel like a million bucks, something Bal is known for. He stayed true to his signature designs—16-tiered kurtas and flowing capes embellished with embroidery of flora and fauna, particularly his much-cherished rose motifs. It was clear what was on Bal's mind: let's stick to the classics, trends be damned.
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Other designers at the fashion week raided their archives for inspiration as well. Péro’s Aneeth Arora brought cottagecore kawaii culture to her free-flowing shirts, dresses, skirts, trousers and jackets, for a collection done in collaboration with Hello Kitty. The partnership marked 15 years of péro and 50 years of the famous fictional white cat with a red bow and no visible mouth. The result was Hello péro, the fashion week's opening show on 9 October. It played with childhood nostalgia, Japanese florals, nautical sailor stripes, beadwork, fabric origami, tassels, hand crochet, patchwork and custom-shaped wooden buttons.
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The next day, designers David Abraham, Rakesh Thakore and Kevin Nigli of Abraham & Thakore proposed a new kind of couture that combined “rubbish" like discarded X-rays, kitchen foil and bin bags, with silk, cotton and chiffon to create evening wear. A cherry-red sari, for example, was embellished with a cut-up plastic table cover, toffee and chips wrappers reappeared as colourful sequins. From afar, the Abraham & Thakore designs seemed familiar. Up close, it was innovation at its best.
Pranav Misra's choice of found object was mud: His Huemn collection, presented by models who walked like zombies set to take over the world, used mud as a design texture for "wearable art". The result was signature Huemn oversized T-shirts, blazers, jeans, vests and bikini tops—made using eco-friendly fabrics by R|Elan that claim to offer multiple functional properties like odour control and UV protection—looking like they were splashed with mud. "Each piece in the collection is crafted using seven distinct handmade processes during the washing stage, resulting in garments where no two are alike," the press notes reads. Besides mud, mundane objects like garbage bags were made extraordinary with prints, pushing the audience to rethink the ordinary.
More wearable and feminine clothes were seen at Payal Jain's Rising Sun, a collection that paid a tribute to Uzbekistan's rich cultural and artistic heritage. Using fabrics like linen gauze, Chanderi silk, Katruan cotton silk and mulmul, Jain brought the country’s architecture—from the mosaics of Registan Square to the grand domes of Samarkand—to jackets, skirts, blouses, wrap skirts, bustiers and capes in the form of embroidery and prints. While the collection scored high on the embroidered jackets and capes, some garments came with the baggage of seen-somewhere-before.
Payal Pratap's Kiss From A Rose, on the other hand, made one smile. Inspired by nature, the collection included flowing skirts, structured jackets, oversized blouses and gender-fluid denim coats that came with cross-stitch embroidery, pixelated floral imagery, appliqué and graphic motifs. Each garment had an easy-sexy-sporty vibe, and a sense of joy ran through the collection, brought to life with vibrant colours and floral prints on linen, cotton silk, satin and georgette—all making you wonder whether clothes really need drama to stand out.
The other collection that stood out for its chic simplicity was Tarun Tahiliani's OTT, his new luxury prêt brand. The debut collection delivered on two fronts—versatile and wearable. From structured drapes and tailored gilets to dhoti pants and jackets, most pieces (except the seen-somewhere-before blue dress worn by showstopper Aditi Rao Hydari) could be carried from a meeting to a party, even to a holiday in Santorini.
Isn’t that what ready-to-wear is all about? Celebrating the everyday every day.
