Look beyond the customary lehenga

Designers Suneet Varma and amit aggarwal took couture week out of its wedding market obsession and tried out elegant evening wear. By Chahak Mittal

They say, one could either be a nerd or be fashionable. Ever heard of two in one in such a case? Well, for a designer like Amit Aggarwal, who made a debut to showcase his couture collection at the India Couture Week 2018, it could definitely be the case.

The ramp was illuminated while the centre of the path was surrounded by triangles placed in a symmetry. From cuts to silhouettes, every design in his collection was inspired by two natural phenomenons, the formation of crystals at a molecular level and the metallic chrysalis around a butterfly cocoon.

“We’ve titled our collection Crystalis, a derivation of words crystal and chrysalis,” said Amit. While the designs implicated a perfect blend of Western and Indian fashion, the two phenomena greatly resonate with their design processes — one that forges unique materials together to create singular design units and the other to create complex patterns, textiles and embroideries.

As much as Amit’s designs dazzled, there was yet another equally stunning element in the scene, showstopper Shilpa Shetty Kundra. She walked with style in a sizzling  lavender-orchid coloured gown-like saree, completely owning the style statement.

She said, “I really admire Amit, he is supremely talented. The collection that he showed today just reiterates that. I am very happy that I was the showstopper. He asked me to do it while I was in London and I honestly didn't think that I'd be able to do it. But now I feel like a complete ‘Amit Aggarwal’ woman.”

Amit revealed his ideology behind the crystall collection that highly favours the idea of a modern Indian woman, “The collection was inspired by the formation and idea of crystals, which is basically in the structure. More than the research, it was important to understand the modern Indian woman, which I think I've tried to depict as what the new-age woman wants.”

The designer laughingly reveals the ideal modern and an ‘Amit Aggarwal’ woman as “She is standing right next to me (Shilpa Shetty).” However, he added, “She is bold, independent and looks forward to the future and ultimately is very confident of her choices.” To which, Shilpa added, “...also she is a trend-setter.”

Shilpa talked about how evolving fashion has a lot to do with simplicity as well, “The style statement keeps evolving with time, but one thing that stays constant is simplicity. If it suits my body, I'll wear it. I really like to be original and go with trends, which is the reason why I am here. You can see the originality in Amit’s designs, it is holographic and shimmers. The silhouettes and cuts are very flattering.”

She added that the current look for this show is something she adored.  “Sometimes I am very selective and but in such a collection like Amit’s you’re really spoilt for choice since I don’t think that there is any piece that I do not want to wear. The colours and the cuts, which modernise the saree and the ghaghra, I loved it!”

The colour palette consisted of rose quartz, silver onyx, emerald, amethyst, topaz and sapphire, as well as metallic shades of rose gold, silver, pewter and light gold. Amit said, “The colour palette ranged from pewter, silver to gold. I actually fused a lot of collections and colours that are hot but all metallic. There was an amalgamation of every possible colour, which was used in the collection.” A pattern of stripes was also observed in the collection reflecting symmetrical shapes. “I am born to an engineer father and that is why I think it fascinates me.” While the collection was modern, the designer has respect for the rich traditions and heritage of India.

“For my designs, I take pride in understanding what heritage we come from and the craftsmanship. I always feel that it is important to push the aesthetic and craftsmanship to a new language. To be able to create something that a person can wear that is global and still imbibe the qualities of our motherland. So a lot of fabrications that we have done, we actually used materials with the same zardozi and zari, but ofcourse radically changed the material to either a PVC strip or something that is recycled,” said he.

One of the most compelling features of his collection was an extensive exploration of silhouettes and research that did come out in flying colours. While Amit’s designs were a representation of the modern Indian woman, designer Suneet Varma’s were ethnic and traditional. With the name Naintara, his couture collection brought in a “young and sexy woman, but at the same time, open to new ideas. It has stones, sequins, jewels, but are looked at in a more contemporary and international manner, not as an ethnic thing.”

He said, “We have skirts, embellished but innovative in shape. I have also followed the international trend of feathers as well as blending it with the Indian designs.”

Suneet’s designs were an assortment of all things beautiful under one roof. One of the new age additions were ruffles in a shimmering black saree. Also, there were many evening dresses with fringes, tassels on hems, over-sized flower motifs, appliquéd jackets, brocades, rhinestones, sequins, jewels, pearls, exuberant ruffles, plunging necklines, flared frills, vivid textural embroideries, and metal fabrics and ruffles. The clothes shone bright with a vivid range like crimson, wine, white, pistachio, almond, lemon, turquoise, purple and royal blue.