Spring in bollywood

If it’s fashion week in Mumbai, then it rains stars on the ramp. Team Viva picks up some season’s picks with their usual dressing of stardust

KJo as showstopper

On Day 3, celebrities like Karan Johar, Sonakshi Sinha, Kalki Koechlin, Hina Khan and others walked for various designers.

KJo and Sonakshi sashayed the ramp for designers Falguni and Shane Peacock. Karan’s streaked silver hair grabbed eyeballs. Sonakshi Sinha was adorned in a sheer bustier, an embroidered jacket on top and flared black pants. Koechlin walked for Amoh by Jade and exuded elegance in a beige lehenga with an off-shoulder golden choli. Suvreen Chawla was seen in a mustard coloured lehenga-choli.

Nimrat turns heads in ruffled lehenga

Nimrat Kaur owned the runway when she walked as a showstopper for designer Pooja Shroff at the Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) spring-summer 2018. The actress sported a ruffled ivory lehenga with minimalistic make-up.

Shroff unveiled her line Plis Et Dentelle at the fashion gala at The Showroom Edit in Jio Garden.

Nimrat carried the outfit with panache teaming it up with a pretty, tie-up choli with zardozi embroidery and paired with a delicate dupatta. “I wanted someone whose sensibility matched my label and I think she is perfect,” Shroff said.

The collection has various fabric manipulations, with pleats in order to present unique silhouettes. Beautiful and varied hand-pleated techniques were the highlights of the line for which the designer has wisely made use of hand embroidery to embellish laces, thereby adding a vintage touch to suit the Indian sensibilities with a contemporary blend.

The family man

Bollywood actor Shahid Kapoor and wife Mira became the first couple to walk as showstoppers for designer Anita Dongre on Day 1.

Showcasing their personalities instead of just catwalking, the Padmaavat star was seen dressed in an ivory sherwani while Mira wore a floral-printed lehenga choli. The designer shared a picture of the couple on Instagram and wrote, “Here’s our bride and groom.” The 36-year-old actor tweeted about his experience, “Excited to have walked for Anita Dongre. Great to see creations that will truly define #FutureCouture.”

Gaurang let music do the talking

It is a rare sight to see Bollywood tracks being played in the backdrop on the fashion runway but designer Gaurang Shah is known for doing his presentation differently.

He not only showcased the best of handloom designs but opted for some old classics as music to set the note right for his show at Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Spring/Summer 2018.

The show started with a kathak performance by US-based Barkha Patel on the popular track Piya tose naina lage re sung live by Hamsika Iyer in the Main Show Area.

This was followed by a model walking the ramp showing Shah’s creative capabilities on soundtrack that also included Aapki nazron ne samjhaa, Chandan sa bandan and Abhi na jao chhod kar.

“Every time I try to do something different and create a story. These old songs were stuck with me and I wanted to use that so I did that with jugalbandi of kathak along with flute and tabla,” said the designer.

Gaurang’s Neel was a lineup of 44 woven indigo-themed handwoven masterpieces that included women’s and menswear at LFW.

The show also witnessed unique twists to bandhani and brought back hath-katti technique after five decades.

There was a visual treat of diverse shades of indigo dye (natural dye) that has been a cultural symbol of Indian textile art for centuries. “With about 50 species of indigo cultivation, the variety in the shades of indigo that the Indian soil can make is unparalleled in the world,” Gaurang said.

“Combined with other natural dyes, indigo makes an astonishing range and intensity of colours which no synthetic dye can match,” added the designer.

It took many months for Gaurang and his team to make blue colour out of green leaves that needed precision of temperature, timing and skill in creating specific hues using natural pigments.

Taking a step further in the weaving technique of Jamdani, Gaurang has incorporated these textures and shades of indigo in weaves of Kota, Banarasi, Patan Patola, khadi, dhakai.

Gaurang has developed niche indigo textiles in block prints like ajrakh, dabu, bagh; tie and dye like bandhani, shibori, leheria, batik, embroideries like chikankari, kashidakari, aari, rabari, parsi gara and kantha.

Another interesting feature of Gaurang’s Neel was the reverse dying technique in bandhani with unique modern twists. Binding the various textile arts of India in rarest dye, the collection comprised anarkalis, lehengas, kurtas, ijar pants, ghararas and saris which are apt for summer destination weddings.