From Bibhu Mohapatra to Tarun Tahliani, here’s what designers showcased at the Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI
The Hindu
The just-concluded Lakme Fashion Week x FDCI, in New Delhi, displayed a creative resurgence, celebrating asymmetrical silhouettes, inclusivity, diversity and impeccable tailoring
The new Pragati Maidan — with its red sandstone plazas and giant stone-and-glass constructions set amid fountains and open amphitheatres — played host to Indian fashion’s most defining seasonal event from October 11 to 15. It was the fashion industry’s return to a beloved venue, one that was (even prior to the makeover) designed to handle large crowds and intense traffic. In short, it works, like it always did. But something felt amiss, or maybe I was just feeling nostalgic for the times where the designers’ stalls sat prominently at the centre of the ground level, and we could watch the bustling business of fashion taking place while we attended the shows upstairs.
This time, the stalls were tucked away behind sponsors’ kiosks, and were smaller in size and number, with just above 80 designers opting to hire one for the five-day period. Why are designers choosing to forego fashion week? Is it the absolute control that social media gives them over their storytelling?
While it is great to be floored by beautiful designs from the biggest and boldest names, I reserve a special kind of attention for the newer names and labels that often have the most intriguing things to say.
One such is Anurag Gupta, whose lineup for the GenNext show was inspired by the uncomfortable reality of India’s numberless persons working in manual scavenging (the designer’s press pack had a copy of an RTI he had filed asking for official figures which Government agencies were unable to provide). The designs and silhouettes were not what we would consider easily wearable, but works of art and thought that relied on unravelled knitwear textures and cocoon silhouettes to make a point.
Another young designer, Aseem Kapoor, also debuted his label on the fashion week ramp with a collection that brought a maximal approach to artistic prints and saturated colours derived from the nomadic tribes of the Thar desert, layered and draped in asymmetrical silhouettes suited for multiple body types and sizes; a very wise approach to design.
No Grey Area by Arnav Malhotra played with oversized Madras checks and graphic prints in a fresh twist on contemporary streetwear, offering separates that can easily become part of a wardrobe across seasons and trends.
Jaipur-based label Triune’s graphic prints, artistic patterns, and oversized silhouettes also drew applause. I must also especially mention his use of beautiful organic cotton printed and treated like vintage denim.