Lakme fashion week in review: Too much Bollywood, too little ready-to-wear
Summary
The 25th Lakme fashion week showcased ready-to-wear clothes that were a bit too glamourous to be considered everyday wear
When actor Kareena Kapoor Khan took the stage on 30 March in Mumbai to close the five-day Lakme Fashion Week, in collaboration with the Fashion Design Council of India and Reliance, she made it point to pay tribute to everyone behind the scenes. "The real icons are fashion stylists, make-up artists, hair stylists, choreographers and the 60 smashingly hot fashion models who are backstage... fashion week is not about us actors walking the finales, it's about each and every one of them who've been backstage. We owe it to them."
She's right. A fashion show is a collective effort of hundreds of minds, and an effort to influence the way the country dresses for months to come. What her speech missed, though, was one important word: clothes. Beyond the make-up, the styling, the front-row, the music, the set and the celebrity showstopper, fashion is about clothes.
Also read: 25 years of India's fashion week
While the 25th edition of the Lakme Fashion Week had interesting ensembles, there wasn't one look that made you say: "Wow, I can't believe that was even possible!'" There were no clothes that say 'think again', clothes that make you see the world, even yourself, in a new light.
This is not to say there wasn't no innovation. Some collections reflected Indian designers' efforts to integrate traditional crafts and textiles into garments that would turn heads in Paris, New York, Dubai, Tokyo as well as New Delhi.
AK-OK's Silver Collar collection, which opened the fashion week on 26 March, for instance, used the pallu of the sari in a top. Actor Ananya Panday paired it with a bright blue wide-legged pants with heavy silver embroidery. Rahul Mishra's Afew combined the designer's Paris runway know-how with bandhani and shibori in The Silk Route collection, with body-hugging dresses, shirt dresses with angel feather-like sleeves and plaid-patterned jumpsuits with a 3D bow around the waist.
Hand-embroidered chikankari and the rabari craft were masterfully reinterpreted by Tarun Tahiliani for his ready-to wear label OTT's showcase of trench coats, bomber jackets and blouses.
Amit Aggarwal continued his experimentation with Benaras brocade, blending it with his signature handwoven polymer to offer corsets, asymmetrical blouses and baggy trousers. Somya Lochan's Quarter showed The Dichotomy of Loss, a collection that cleverly used Tanchoi silk brocade woven in Benaras and Aurangabad's Himroo handwoven brocade in waistcoats, skirts and quilted coats and jackets in shades of red and black.
All of them looked layering-friendly but weren't exactly ready-to-wear as one would expect at Lakme fashion week, dedicated to ready-to-wear fashion. Most collections were largely ready-to-wear-meets-occasionwear, high on embellishments like feathers, sequin, crystals, silver chains. Yes, AM-PM dressing has become the order of the day, but how many people would wear a black jacket sprinkled with five big 3D flowers to a client meeting? The idea is sexy, but not seductive. This gap in understanding what ready-to-wear really means could be perhaps because the Indian fashion industry is used to catering to the wedding market.
Other collections chose to shine, but discreetly. The first Satya Paul collection under the creative direction of David Abraham, Rakesh Thakore and Kevin Nigli (the designers behind Abraham and Thakore) was a lesson in how to play with colourful prints in classic fluid silhouettes. Flowing kaftans, striking tunics and saris came in designs inspired by mid-century modernists Ellsworth Kelly and Matisse. One look included a tie, shorts, shirt and blazer in shades of yellow accented with hints of white and black stripes around the sleeves and tie—smart, chic, bright yet subtle, comfortable and striking.
S&N by Shantnu Nikhil, too, kept it easy-peasy with sharply cut suits, bold printed shirts, relaxed silhouettes and detailing like wide lapels, in muted shades of pink, blue, grey, and some black.
So did Rina Singh with her Eka collection of body-inclusive flowing, layered dresses, blouses and shirts, which came with Victorian-esque tulle and fine textiles like cotton-silk, linens and gauze, transporting the viewer to a lazy summer afternoon somewhere in the mountains.
Beyond the two striking moods of ready-to-wear—discreet shine and the other loud and glamorous—what stood out was the industry's undying love for Bollywood stars.
At least 10 shows had a celebrity showstopper, serving as a reminder that even after 25 years, fashion needs Bollywood to make a splash.
Their look-at-me attitude certainly achieved one thing: creating viral moments. In doing so, they became the hero of the show. Not the clothes.
