Pearls Infrastructure Delhi Couture Week 2010 – Finale

 I was just not that happy on the last and final day of the Couture week………………as the shows came to an end I realized that the finale shows were either done up in a jiffy or just for the heck of it since the clothes lacked creativity and innovation. The designs were something I had seen since past many fashion weeks. Read on for my review designerwise.

Rakesh Agarwal

 Rakesh Agarwal presented his collection which had Indian as well as western outfits………………I I have to go by the looks of it I would rather prefer his western ensemble since the silhouettes were better designed and looked good on the ramp. I am sure if our celebrities were to dress up in those outfits and walk on the red carpet they would surely look like a million bucks. But as for the Indianwear……………after seeing the creations of other designers in this fashion week I honestly feel Rakesh’s Indianwear lacked the glamour factor. Nonetheless the western attire gets a thumbs up from me……..Jacqueline Fernandes walked as a show-stopper for Rakesh.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rina Dhaka

Rina Dhaka’s new collection had a rather dark, mysterious style of background setting which is why it was difficult to review her outfits. But by the looks of Lara Dutta walking down the ramp as show-stopper I felt the collection was not up to the mark. The emphasis was given more on styling up the models than the outfits……………not that others had not done the same but their outfits spoke volume too. Here I am sadly not convinced that the outfits are gonna be a big hit with the audience. Sorry Rina………………this was just not that happening show.

Photo courtesy : www.daylife.com, www.prokerala.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla

Abu Jani & Sandeep Khosla the famous designer duo are back on the couture week scene but the clothes were bigger than last time they have presented a collection on the runway but not that appealing. Shimmer……………..loads of shimmer was used in womenswear, menswear was much more subtle and elegant. The embroidery was beautiful as the duo is master in it but the designs were a bit repetitive. Layering was a dominant feature…………………overall was just satisfied since I had expected a lot new designs this time around since the gap between their previous show and now was many years. Gorgeous detailing but new something ‘in vogue’. Celebrities like Shweta Nanda & Bret Lee looked fabulous as show-stopper on the ramp……………no complains in their styling.

Photo courtesy : www.daylife.com

Pearls Infrastructure Delhi Couture Week 2010 – Day 5

Day 5 kicked off with display of collection from renowned designers Varun Bahl & Suneet Verma. I am happy to state that Indian designers have been truly very innovative with Indian ensemble and this couture week proves their creativity.

Varun Bahl

I felt as if I had gone back to the Victorian era………..this season I am simply loving the head pieces……….they look so stylish on the runway and very Indian. Coming back to the collection, Velvet was a dominating feature of this collection………elaborate zardozi work loved amazing on the fabric. The entire collection had a very regal look. With royal colours like purple, maroon, red, green, navy blue all combined with matt gold detailing. The corsets and cholis in  while the lehenga & sarees in fabrics like satin, silk, georgettes, crepe…………..rich, beautiful, wearable and elegant is my verdict for Varun Bahl’s new collection.

Photo Courtesy : www.daylife.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Suneet Verma

Suneet Verma’s new collection was visually very pleasing to the eye with vibrant colours fit for the upcoming Autumn-Winter season. The detailing and use of fabric was artistic but the use of tassels and fringes were not needed since they took away the beauty of the outfit on the whole. I wish he would have avoided it all together. Loved his Bridal wear done in pastels like beige, peach, yellow with silver & golden thread plus sequin/crystal work. The layering & draping were a work of art and Suneet did a commendable job.Overall I was happy that Suneet’s collection was much, much better than his earlier collection displayed in Lakme Fashion Week Resort 2010 which was inspired by the 70s disco era. This on the other hand was regal yet very contemporary. I am kinda off falling for the turban look for ladies………….transforms a woman into a powerful figure. That is the magic of accessorizing I guess………………

Photo courtesy : www.daylife.com, www.prokerala.com

Pearls Infrastructure Delhi Couture Week 2010 – Day 4

Day 4 saw Bollywood not just cheer for the designers but to also walk down the runway for them……..Kangana looked fabulous in the JJ Valaya designed bridalwear and Anil Kapoor along with his home production ‘Aisha’ gang rocked the ramp………….though I must admit that I missed Sonam a lot since the father-daughter duo would have looked very cute on the ramp………..

Anamika Khanna

Anamika Khanna is surely very creative in her work and that reflects in her designs…………..but sometimes the mix-n-match of outfits just does not give the desired effect. Well to some extent that is what happened with her new collection…………where the pieces if worn individually would have looked much more appealing. The western designs were classy the problem was the Indianwear fused with western……………..I can say overall I was just merely satisfied by the creations since I have seen Anamika’s earlier works and feel the lady has loads of talent. But she made Anil Kapoor look so good on the ramp in the Achkan combined with churidhars. Loved that look which I feel Anil can sporton the red carpet too since even at this age he is the most graceful actor in Bollywood. As for the rest of cast of ‘Aisha’ …………..Amrita Puri & Ira Dubey looked good………the outfits suited them well but Lisa Haydon’s outfit needed more refinement since it looked like combining leotards with a glamorous dupatta………..my apologies to Anamika but that was just not appealing. I would have looked amazing it Anamika would have combined black trousers with another dark shade top and then the dupatta comes in. Overall my verdict is………’Yeh Dil mange more’ …………….hope Anamika gives us more next time around.

Photo courtesy : www.daylife.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

JJ Valaya

For people who want to see the detailed embroidery on Kangana’s Bridal attire can click on the pic below in order to zoom in. Check out the beautiful work which is by far the best work seen in this fashion season. The lehenga and the dupatta seem to have resham dhaaga embroidery combined with colourful stone & gotta work. Simply Awesome.

 

JJ Valaya new collection ‘Alika’ has proved that he indeed is the Guru of modern Indianwear…………..I was really happy to see his stunning creations this season which were breath-taking and definitely better than his earlier season which he had presented at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Show. But the menswear certainly confused me since the kurtas which were long enough to touch the model’s toes????? I am certainly going to overlook that fact since the detailed embroidery work was the best that I have seen so far in this fashion week……………….thumbs up for choosing the beautiful Kangana as the show stopper………she truly did justice to that gorgeous bridal lehenga and vice versa. Styling was perfect on the models and the show stopper……………sarees and cholis for the Lehengas in metallic hues…..now that is a first one, loved it. Overall this collection will go a long way and I am so happy for JJ Valaya got his groove back.

Photo courtesy : www.daylife.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Pearls Infrastructure Delhi Couture Week 2010 – Day 3

The third day had Manav Gangwani & Pallavi Jaikishan [Pics to be uploaded ASAP]  presenting their respective collection. Will the collection work magic with the audience or just fade out. Let’s find out…………..

Manav Gangwani

Manav Gangwani combined the old-time charm with Indian culture to present his new collection ‘An affair to Remember’ which had both Indian and western outfits. It was definitely an affair to remember since this time around Manav went more for the westernized look in his outfits but the gowns seemed more fit for the ‘Barbie Dreamland’. But I somehow loved the creative head pieces which the models wore with the outfits…………….stylewise the show was great……………clotheswise some western designs were not wearable……………honestly not many prefer to walk down the red carpet wearing a huge ball gown which reminds people of a doll birthday cake. Though his Indian designs rocked…………..the Swaroski crystal detailing was beautiful. The collection had sarees, lehengas and gowns in bright colours…………..Manav captured the essence of Indianwear by creating outfits which had loads of bright hues. My verdict on this collection : Indianwear definitely will rock, some gowns will also do well but the big ball gowns………..Manav please avoid those…………..I feel that is not your style.

Photo courtesy : www.daylife.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 Pallavi Jaikishan

 Pallavi Jaikishan’s new collection revolved around three themes – Nostalgia, Maharani & Sitare……………I must say these inspirations did reflect a lot in her clothes. She is the ‘Vera Wang’ of Indian Bridal Couture in fact she started way before Vera Wang started her label…………but 36 years of experience does make her creation a ‘vintage’  since they are classic, elegant and can be handed down to generations. The ‘dreamy collection’ as I would call it had beautiful creations in lehegas, churidhars, sarees with velvet cholis………….Pallavi’s signature style of combining chantily lace, crystals, sequins, embroidery with fabrics like net, georgette, satin and velvet was also seen in the outfits. Subtle, alluring, striking hues were the focus point of this amazing collection. The entire ramp looked like a bridal wonderland with models sashying down the ramp wearing colours like peach, yellow, beige, pinks, sky blues, ash grey fused with darker shades like maroon, orange, black and purple. Loved the clothes, loved the works…………….but the background setting of the show was similar to Pallavi’s earlier shows…………..a little bit of drama would have added that much required glamour quotient to the collection. Nonetheless Pallavi’s creation were fabulous, spoke a lot of volume and were very,very Indian.

Photo Courtesy : www.prokerala.com, www.daylife.com

 

 

 

Pearls Infrastructure Delhi Couture Week 2010 – Day2

Day 2 started with Gaurav Gupta’s collection and ended with Rohit Bal’s sizzling creations.

Gaurav Gupta

Gaurav Gupta’s Indo-Western line of clothes were better than his last fashion week collection but still a lot was left to be desired. Gaurav tried his level best to create the glamour factor in his creations but there was nothing new. Plus many, many outfits were simply not wearable. Extravagent gowns with much more extravagent styling did make the outfits worth a watch but without the extras it would not be worth the look. Styling does not mean taking a vintage piece of jewellery and wearing it on the hair just for the heck of it……………It is important for that piece of jewellery to blend in as well…………….which in this collection was evident that the styling was not upto thebenchmark of global fashion. On the whole not much impressed with this collection………….apologies to Gaurav Gupta but I feel clothes more than styling need to speak volume in fashion sense.

Photo Courtesy :www.prokerala.com

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rohit Bal

 

Ever seen a fashion show where the models swim in a pool wearing couture dresses…………….nothing is impossible when it comes to Rohit Bal. He too jumped into the pool for a fun-filled evening……….the only difference was that it was in front of a huge crowd………but nothin can stop ‘Gudda’ as he is affectionately called by his friends. From the looks of the outfits I felt I am watching a ‘Dior’ show and Rohit Bal is our native ‘John Galliano’. The clothes were big in terms of the ruffles & layers combined with big hair………..the outfits were fit for red carpet or a gala ball but some pieces were not very wearable…………that is where I was a wee bit disappointed. But thankfully there were not much of those clothes in this collection. The colour scheme was dominated by off-whites and style had loads of gowns which looked straight out of a modern-day fairy tale………..Cindrella would have been happy seeing this collection. It also had long kurtis combined with skirts or traditional lehengas which were in vogue in early 1990s………..remember our very own Aishwarya Rai strutting down the ramp in these styles during her modelling days??? Loved the off-whites, the achkans for men, the Indian fused with western outfits, traditional attire, the way Rohit has played with the fabrics giving them an artistic twist and turn but some gowns were over the top and I honestly feel the Indian audience would still wanna go for something simpler and traditional. The gowns are fit for a Diva who wants to be demure and the centre of attention at any event abroad.

Photo courtesy : www.daylife.com

Pearls Infrastructure Delhi Couture Week 2010 – Day 1

Fashion Week is here! Fashion Week is here! Oh I do get excited whenever a new collection is launched coz that is where the future of fashion gets decided. The Pearls Infrastructure Delhi Couture Week 2010 kicked off in the capital city with a lot of hoo halla……… with some problems with regard to the name of the event……….you can read about that in the leading newspapers……….coming back to fashion…..Let’s check out what is in store for fashion fraternity.

Sabyasachi Mukherjee

The nite started with Sabysachi Mukherjee presenting his new collection. Of course his two muse Rani Mukherjee & Vidya Balan were there not just to cheer for him but also to walk down the ramp for him. Both were wearing a Sabysachi creation…………Rani wore a black colour jump suit accessorized with black heels & a clutch but went for matt gold jewellery whereas Vidya Balan looked gorgeous in a Sabysachi red saree………….reminded of my husband’s fave song ‘Lady in Red’…………….something about a lady in red clothes makes guys go all dreamy………coming back to the collection named ‘Aparajito’ which literally means ‘the undefeated’ was inspired from classic indian traditions and also had a kind of Moroccan feel to it when combined with the elegant ‘topi’. The fabric used was mostly khadi withembroidery, block printing and other works from different parts of India. I get good vibes from this collection…………….classic, elegant, alluring and can be easily mix ‘n’ matched with other outfits in your wardrobe. The colours were black combined with earthy tones plus had menswear as well as womens wear in it. I do wish that budding designers take inspiration from Sabysachi for keeping India’s textile and traditional craftmanship alive.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Manish Malhotra

The desiger was at his best when he presented his recent collection which was glamorous and would make every woman look like a million bucks. I am truly happy that Manish has got his groove back with this recent collection of his, since the earlier collection presented in Lakme Fashion Week Resort 2010 earlier this year was not up to the Manish Malhotra style benchmark…………..the collection had menswear basically in black and colourful womenswear. the collection consisted of sarees, lehengas, jackets, skirts, long flowy dresses,  achkans, ahhhhh the glorious outfits with beautiful detailing. Take a look at the recent collection below.

 

Photo courtesy : www.daylife.com