Lakme India Fashion Week - a Review

Introductionbeaches of Copacabana, St. Tropez and Riviera to
India is becoming the latest fashion hub for thethe audience. Her collection was quite glamorous
fashionistas. Indian designers are no longerconsisting of outfit like grey T-shirts with silver
confined to the domestic fashion and apparelleggings, lycra T-shirts having sleeve
market, they are gaining recognition and fameornamentations, strapless dresses accompanied
from all over the world. The various governmentwith necklaces, earrings and brooches.
policies and a boom in fashion industry have madeThe men collection was marked by casual wear
it possible. One of the major breakthroughT-shirts, poplin trousers with detailed embroideries
provided to Indian designers to showcase theirand white tuxedo jackets.
talents are through the medium of fashion shows.The garments were decorated with semi precious
Lakme India Fashion Show is the most popularstones or with attractive patch works. Her line of
fashion show celebration of India where thecollection was dominated by colors like white,
talents of already established and upcomingapatite, agate, jade, opal and black onyx. The
designers are showcased.garments were accessorized with intrinsically
This event is a fashion celebration laced with lotscrafted jewelry and bags.
of glamour and national as well as internationalSavio Jon
media coverage. This time lakme India fashionThis designer emphasized heavily on the comfort
week was held at Mumbai from 31st Oct- 4thfactor of the garments. Savio Jon is well known
Nov. Many high profile designers as well asfor his simple yet attractive clothing lines which
audience witnessed this fashion fiesta. Famousare high on value and seductive quotient. Unlike
bollywood celebrities were part of it.other designers he preferred his garments to
Eminent designers like Surily Goel, Narendrahang loose around the body instead of body
Kumar, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Nalandda Bhandari,hugging/tight fitting clothes. He used free flowing
Nandita Mahtani, Anand Kabra, Abhishek Dutta ,fabrics like fish net, mul, chiffon, georgette and
Wendrell Rodericks, Anupama Dayal, Vikramcrepe.
Phadnis, Chaitanya Rao, Sanchita, Savio Jon, PayalPinafore silhouette, long lean maxis, oversized
Singhal, Sanjay Malhotra, James Ferriera,blouses, deep shoveled armholes, low back and
Priyadarshini Rao, etc presented their springfront necklines, were some types of garments he
summer 2007 collection. Also South Africanpresented. In evening wear he glamorized the
designer duo Sun Goddess and Clive Rundletubular silhouettes with shimmers. The ranges of
presented their collection.colors choosed by him for his collection were
Brief descriptions of some designer's creativebeige, grey, brown, black, pale yellow and white.
work are as follows :-Thus the colors were also sober and subtle.
Nalandda BhandariPayal Singhal
Nalandda Bhandari designs simple yet attractivePayal Singhal for the first time presented her
and wearable collection under the brand namecollection in Lakme Fashion Week. Her designer
'Nasha'. She named her spring/summer 2007collection for women were designed keeping in
collection 'Free Spirit'. She covered all patterns andmind today's working women's needs and
styles of contemporary women clothing, dresscomfort level. Stylish yet affordable was the key
patterns like- tunics, kaftans, tube dress, skirts,element associated with her collection. She
shirts and burnt gold evening gown dominated herbeautifully used cutwork, satin, georgette,
show. She played with glamour clad fabrics likejacquard, tulle, cotton, crepe, taffeta, brocade and
chiffon, silk, georgette, voile, cotton and crepe.seersucker in club and partywear for dresses and
Her collection was largely ruled by animal printstunics. Her display of outfits on ramp descended
and embroideries like African embroidery, sequingracefully from daywear to glamorous evening
embroidery, etc. She also presented her menwear. She started her showcasing of designs in
collection. She included her logo of roseoyster white color then, tea rose, yellow, coffee,
embroidery in almost every outfit.watermelon to grapefruit color. Display of tunics
Narendra Kumarand blousons were coupled with melon, gold or
The very famous designer Narendra Kumarsilver tights. The signature outfit was the oyster
presented his spring/summer collection 2007 atwhite kaftan embellished with golden embroidery.
Lakme Fashion Week. The collection was namedSanjay Malhotra
as 'Love Touches You'. He presented a perfectSanjay Malhotra named his spring/summer 2007
blend of traditional and contemporary designingcollection 'Dejavu'. The key phrase which inspired
paired beautifully with each other. The women'shim for this collection was Life through my rose
line of western collection had smocked & pleatedcolored glasses. He instead of sticking only to free
skirts, balloon skirt with shirt dress, half collars,flowing usual feminine fabrics, even experimented
bloomers, chiffon with appliqué sleeves, etcwith fabrics like fur, leather, voiles, denim, suede
which were created with the designer's uniqueand laces which were highly appealing to today's
touch and detailing. The preferred fabrics by thepower packed independent women. The beautiful
designer were cotton, georgette, net, silk, mullmix-n-match of these fabrics in sober as well as
and linen. The collection was unique but wearablestriking colors presented a collection that was bold
in terms of design and pattern.enough yet stylish and wearable. Few of the
The men collection was very stylish and appealingmany outfits displayed by him were- ivory
in nature. Men models walked the ramp withcolored mirror jacket with chiffon sleeves, colorful
elaborate embroidered batik styled shirts pairedcorset skirt accompanied with net petticoat, tunic
with stylish trousers completed with patchwith fur edge, etc. His collection was for the
pockets and shiny zippers. Fun element of,woman who likes to seek attention of the crowd
feminity to male garments was provided byand be different.
showcasing sophisticated floral printed baggy topsClive Rundle and Sun Goddess
paired with tight fitting pants and capris. TheClive Rundle and Sun Goddess were two
choice of colors was dull jade, beige, blue, brown,international South African designers who
saffron and white. Complicated embroidery,presented their collection at Lakme Fashion Week.
smocking, appliqué work and shadow workFusion was the key style of their outfits.
were part and parcel of his creative designing.Extravagant layered dresses and skirts, jackets,
The fun element was when the famous modelevening wear, loosely fitted shirts and trousers,
turned actor John Abraham walked the ramp withlong coats and tops were part of their garment
white linen suit. Thus he complied every bit ofshowcase. Their choices of colors were mainly
creativity and entertainment aspects to hiscreams, cherries, plums, peaches, sapphires,
collection which gained him standing ovation by themaroons and mauves. The free flowing pleated
audience and showering of red.and layered outfits depicted the south African
Surily Goelculture and fashion essence through them.
Surily Goel is young and talented designer whoJames Ferriera
even designs for film personalities. Her latestJames Ferriera made his debut at Lakme Fashion
creation on big screen was for actress PreityWeek. He named his collection 'Bombay Tokyo'.
Zinta for the film 'Jaan-e-Mann'. Her collectionHis collections were inspired by Maharashtra's rich
presented the carefree and sensual side oftextile heritage.
women's clothing. This year's collection wasThe collections were divided into seven segments
marked by knee-length skirts of georgette,which were even named. The sari, an ode to
crochets, chiffon, light silks and organdy,devnagari, the hardy traditional towel, black magic,
highlighting pleats and waist gathering with satinthe sholapur story, warli and diwali were the
belts. Also single piece bubble outfits created inseven names given to the segments.
wide range of colors and fabrics. In this time'sTraditional warli paintings and paithani motifs were
collection she used more of small colored stones.done on the clothes. Very uniquely he
The presence of film personalities like Dino Morea,transformed the traditional forms of
Sonali Bendre, Neelam Kothari, Fardeen Khan,maharashtrian clothing into contemporary designs,
Sameera Reddy and Tara Sharma in the audiencelike nine yard saris were intelligently converted into
during her collection put the star element into thetunics. Marigold and leaf motifs were used on
show.black shirts with cowl necks.
Chaitanya RaoTo describe in a nutshell his collection used ethnic
Chaitanya Rao's collection was like early morningfabrics and designs on garments with style and
breeze with booming petals of budding roses. Theattitude. The outfit presented during finale had
delicate fabrics like georgette and chiffon providedblack georgette garments with glittering Paithani
that sexy feminine look to her collection. As herembroidery designs on them.
signature, she included moth in the form ofConclusion
embroidery or appliqué in all of herThis event is marked by presence of celebrities
garments. The models took over the ramp withand traders all across the globe. Also it provides a
her mesmerizing feminine collection comprising ofplatform for the budding designers to show their
hem blouses with theme embroideries, pleatedtalent and establish themselves into the high
mini skirts with batik prints, moth appliquéprofile fashion industry, for the already established
blouses, long frayed double hem dresses, paledesigners to show their collection and maintain
grey chiffon tunic, cream color chiffon bubbletheir popularity level. The above mentioned review
dress, dolman sleeved hipster blouses, the listis for few of the many prominent and talented
goes on. To accessorize her collection she useddesigners. The nutshell description of the designers
thin and broad belts.suggests that this celebration of fashion and style
Sanchitais a sure shot success for India's designers and
Sanchita's collection presented in Lakme Fashionpromote the export business too. The very
Week was bold yet wearable. She divided herpresence of film stars on the ramp of their
collection into three segments- Punk chic,favorite designers and in the audience is the
Copacabana and Swinging deco. The stunningcrowd puller factor of this celebration. Lakme
designer pieces of bikinis and pareos, HawaiianFashion week is extensively covered by media
inspired kaftans, small balloon skirts, floatyand promoted also.
dresses and minis provided the feeling of the