LFW’s Resort/Summer 2010′s last day got off to a great start!!
The ACCESSORY DESIGNER SHOW began with Eina Ahluwalia ‘s “Breathing Space” and was divided into two sections. The “Truth” offered the most exquisite agate and fretwork in silver combined with semi precious stones while “Sunset in Nice” integrated brightly colored ombre’d scarves as the basic element with silver elements bringing together fabric with metal to give a new perspective to necklaces.

Sonali Dalwani of Crimzon was inspired by the Papillion (butterfly) for her collection of jewelry, shoes, bags and belts with the butterfly motifs flying on the bags and necklaces. The color range included green, purple, blue, red, orange and yellow

Suhani Pittie’s “The Grunge Begum” collection was ‘spot-on’ sophisticated and chic. It ranged from Hyderabadi Jhumkas, kasulaperu old coins, Nawabi insets and carved wood blocks on copper, silver and dull gold metal to chains, zipper fabric and vintage motifs for the fabulous necklaces, cuffs, earrings and revived the anklets.? While totally Indian in its references ?and elements- it would be equally at home every fashionable city around
The world.

Debarun Mukherjee proved that a designer can be inspired by anything even if it is a mere Indian snack. His “Miracle Mix”, inspired by the tasty chanachur or Bombay Mix, a Kolkata snack was a creative blend of the rustic with a contemporary. delightful mélange of silhouettes.
With a title like ‘Is This Love’, Nidhi and Divya Gambhir for their Walnut label collection had elegant mini cocktail dresses in simple silhouettes with maximum structuring.
The hand painted organzas in shades of black and white with subtle tones of purple, teal, grey and crème made the dresses ready for Christies auction block.

Rimi Nayak’s Azure Amour was a Fatal Attraction look inspired by the sea farer’s uniforms. Structured silhouettes, some with drapes were deconstructed, and included an emphasis on nautical motifs and blue and white stripes.

Lina Tipnis’s collection “Istanbul Not Constantinople” included cocktail dresses which varied in shape from trapeze to tent, sheath to shirt and stylish caftan to Turkish trousers. The magnificent gems at the Topkapi Palace, swirling Turkish dervishes, beautiful blue Iznik tiles and the 14th century Grand Bazaar of the magical city of Istanbul came alive in Lina’s collection.

Payal Singhal’s line of casual and formal separates included maxis, draped cowled skirts and ornate tank tops. Keeping to a neutral colour palette of ecru and sand, Payal used dramatic crystal embellishments for added glamour.

A special highlight of the week was the much anticipated show featuring TIGI’s International Creative Director and hair stylist, Anthony Mascolo and hot London designer Christopher Kane…both on the runway and in India for the first time. Presented by ‘Lakmé Studio ‘. Anthony Mascolo’s amazing “CATWALK” hairstyling kept the audience applauding’ while Christopher Kane’s swirling pleated chiffon dresses, expert beadwork, and soft delicate pastel tablecloth checks made this show a special treat for us all- including front row guest Frieda Pinto.

Anita Dongre’s “Jaipur Again”  featured predominantly all white garments that still reflected all the beauty of Rajasthan architecture. Kurtas swirled with gota embroidery, jackets added elegance and class, and the cholis appeared in all their traditional glory.

And finally the Grand Finale….The Ballroom of the Grand Hyatt Hotel was draped with metres of fabrics cascading down from the ceiling in lush panels. Three giant silver disco globes rotated from the ceiling throwing twinkling stars on the already intricated mirrored runway.. A Mykonos windmill gently rotated to the left of the stage while a silver balcony on the right of the stage hosted Medieval Punditz Shai’r and Func spinning the most exciting disco and dance beat music for the show. Lakmé Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2010 featured Suneet Varma’s Night Fever extravaganza… inspired by LAKMÉ’S NIGHT FEVER Summer 2010 collection. The five segments included:Color My World, Call of the Wild pucci Prints, Preppy Argyle. and last, but definitely not least was- The Bold and the Beautiful.
This festive, colorful, entertaining show ended with the three beautiful Faces of Lakme dancing with Suneet to the Bee Gees catchy “Night Fever” in a swirl of silver mylar confetti that engulfed the venue…..and then we all dnaced on to the glorious after-party at China House.
This wrapped up the first ever “Summer/Resort ” collections on a high note…which is exactly how it should conclude! Congratulations to all the designers for a great week, and to all the models, choreographers, producers, staff, volunteers and all who took part in making this one of the best Lakme Fashion Weeks ever!

PURVI DOSHI’S collection brought together a mix of culture and craft in a collection titled “Kahchindo” (Gujarati for Chameleon), and it was exactly that… as most of the garments changed their shapes and colours with draw strings and rope pull details- making many skirts and dresses look like curtains or window shades that can go up and down.

SHASHIKANT NAIDU’s inspiration was the Goddess Parvati and was dedicated to fashionable women around the globe. Using comfortable cotton, mul, and tussar, Shashikant’s beautiful muted prints and caftan shapes made a great impact. 

MASABA GUPTA’s collection aptly called “Chhalni” and was a terrific follow up to her exciting debut show last season. With a breezy line of layered women’s and men’s casual wear in bright, happy colors, prints and embroideries…they were the ultimate resort clothes. Masaba loves the beauty of tribal Banjaran women and her use of crushed muls, net and ikat with silk reflected their art.

MYOHO BY KIRAN & MEGHNA AGARWAL presented beautiful clothes in a collection titled “The Butterfly Effect”. Soft and feminine the creations floated around the models in fabrics as light as air. Delicate appliqués on silk, and prints of beautiful floral motifs, in kaleidoscopic colours like electric blue and fuchsia were embellished with shimmering gold appliqués.

NEHA AGARWAL’s trendy and sporty “Games People Play” was a spirited collection! Prints included kites and trees, and special “team” numbers.

PAROMITA BANERJEE offered a refreshing and youthful collection. It was an ode to Bengal and the handlooms of India, called “The Laal Paar and Other Stories”. The looks revolved around muls, khadi, handlooms, silks, tussars, chanderi, gamchas, mixing and matching prints – of delicate florals, birds and a rooster. My favorite however had a big softly blurred Rothko-esque red circle on the front.

RIMZIM DADU’S meticulous and intricate weaves of leathers, faux leathers, zippers, metallic rings, shredded jerseys and chiffons and sequins…was presnted on some very ‘Mad Max’ models on work boots…but it couln’t take anything away from ther superb and clever workmanship, executed almost entirely on black, with accents of royal blue.

KALLOL DATTA had a audience of fashion fans (including me) wearing his clothes to his show. With rather grim descriptions, his collection titled ‘Remission fall 2010′ included groups called, suicide series, prison slate and road kill- and my favorite- Kitty Kat. His unconventional creative style continues to impress with unique shapes and construction, bold screen prints and this time a colour range of predominantly black backed with shades of green, white, flesh and studied red.

ANAND KABRA was inspired by mytholgy for a beautiful, yet dark collection. “She Was so Dark That She Was Blue” revolved around Draupadi his inspiration. Researching deep into his muse, Anand worked around a colour story of blue, black and nude adding on shades of violet, purple, green, electric blue and occasional splashes of yellow for the prints. Anand had flowing kaftans and wraps along with comfortable jumpsuits and slim skirts.

PHILIPS presented VIKRAM PHADNIS’S sensual collection on a catwalk under Gold metallic chandelier leaves suspended from chains on the ceiling. Crème and black looks were stylish in fluid fabrics like georgette, chiffon, jersey, crepe, linen and lace.

SATYA PAUL’S elegant and fresh collections of exquisite saris, cocktail dresses and gowns was a refeshing treat. Bollywood stars on the ramp added to the glamour of the fabulous show on Women’s Day.  Colours, textures, shapes and prints were in pastel blue, pink, peach, lemon and soft orange, and bright contemporary prints gave the saris and clothes a very modern and fresh look,
while the saris were opulent with lavishly embroidered pallavs and hand painted floral patterns or abstract forms.

Day 3 of LFW  began with a tri-fecta of emerging designers. Titled “Decode” Amalraj Sengupta displayed young preppy line featuring stylish dresses and men’s wear in  colours that had muted shades of grey, black, white, pinstripes and touches of blue. The summer season inspired Harangad Singh’s collection of finely crafted minis …and third designer Vijay Bahara presented an interesting collection called “Bonala Nautch”, inspired by the Nautch girls of the north. It was a feminine traditional line with very contemporary touches in perfect harmony.

Anand Bhushan’s “Rust” collections were intricately textured with 3D flowers and embroidery detailing. The silhouettes were simple and basic allowing the surface treatment to take centre stage., and they were better suited to Fall than Resort/Summer.   Inspired by the past of Kolkata and the modern life of the city, designer Neelanjan Ghosh wove a great fashion story with the theme “Colonial Influence on Kolkata Past or Present” and the collection was called “Babu, Bibi Aar Keta”. The designing was intricate with double lapels, trousers looped to shirts lots of drop crotch cowled pants saris with wide embroidered borders teamed with empire line coats or low lapel coat dresses. Add-ons like cowl scarves and drapes at the shoulder of dresses gave a retro Raj look.

With Boho Resort as her inspiration Asmita Marwa’s uniquely titled line “Maya 0° 36’0”S/73° 6’0”E” was for the jet setting woman. The first group of red and white and black and white linen block checks was turned into maxis, swirling tops, mini with recycled fabric fringe and halter dress with rose knot and large rose appliqués. With colour, style and creativity Asmita Marwa’s Summer/Resort 2010 line will be a winner anywhere and at anytime.

Inspirations for “Let’s Play a Game – Again” by Swapnil Shinde were drawn from a quirky mix of the Hollywood films that Swapnil visualized as “Transformer meets Alice in Wonderland” two diametrically opposite themes. The fabrics fitted the theme with lamé, lycra, metallics, chiffon, georgettes, patent leather, and heavy textured fabrics used for bandage tops with acrylic detailing on the neck, hexagon lampshade style voluminous skirts, artistic corsets, laser cut outs for patent leather dresses. The very symmetrical construction was turned into shirts, pants and dresses. Accessories were dazzling crystal belts, bracelets and necklaces.

Designers Shantanu and Nikhil entered the sports arena with their new S&N label for Adidas Style Essentials .

The collection called “Motochic” included track pants, shirts, muscle sleeve and body hugging Tees. skirts, tunics as well as trendy bags, belts and wallets, footwear and accessories.  The entire collection was in (NYC) taxi cab yellow, black and white….and was presented on a runway/roadway, with flashing lights, road detours and the white line down the middle– keeping the models in and out of the traffic.–

Known for her colourful, wearable, party clothes over the decades, Malini Ramani’s Grey Goose presented show along with the appropriate cocktails for the various stops on her resort tour….did not disappoint!  The sexy seductive creations with the love goddess look were inspired by different exotic locales..and ended in glamorous gold Mumbai…with Bombalicious ladies walking the ramp.  The clothes dazzled with mirrors and hand embroideres and on fabrics ranging from georgette to stylish Lycra and jersey in pink, fuchsia, turquoise, aqua, beige and sunny yellow.

 Killer Jeans, creators of best selling denim collections for over two decades brought onto the fashion catwalk ace designer, Narendra Kumar. The show opened with Sara Jane Dias, Miss India 2007 in a white gown with black geometric appliqués on the bodice. The denim looks that followed included an unconventional avatar with washes, textures and body hugging shapes. Sprayed, laminated, bleached and coloured, the denim was shredded, dyed and patched. .

The show wrapped up with Nari taking the final bow wearing a long black wig with a bang.