Lakme Spring Summer Collection, 2008 in Mumbai, Published in North East Sun

Lakme Spring Summer Collection, 2008 in Mumbai, Published in North East Sun

FASHION EXTRAVAGANZA

 

The Lakme Fashion Week Spring/Summer Collection'08 was more than just a gathering of the glitterati and hi-flying fashionistas. It was serious business blended with a strong commitment to social causes.

When I got the invite for another season of Lakme Fashion Week, I was rather skeptical – after all, fashion week after fashion week can be a bit too much even for the most ardent fashion aficionado. But when I landed up at Mumbai's NCPA, where the event was organised, and as the days went by, I was surprised: this season of the LFW had actually much more to offer than was thought. Another fashion week before the hangover of the previous one gets over can tend to get monotonous. But, every time, the organisers as well as the designers – both established and emerging – managed to do their bit to present something different and new.

This season's uniqueness was the social theme – the effort by some of the designers to get through messages and causes associated with them. Right from helping the block printing community to eradication of illiteracy, the LFW Spring/Summer 2008 had it all.

If Gen-Next designer Bijoya Mukherjee used the opportunity to raise the cause of Rajasthan's block printing community with her 'Tryst with fundamentals' collection, Agnimitra Paul highlighted the dying kantha style of embroidery with her theme, 'Stitch Story-The Kantha Tale', and paid tributes to the kantha artisans by taking the bow with two of them on stage.

Then, there was master designer Narendra Kumar, whose day 3 collection was titled 'Freedom with Literacy' – an effort to blend education with style. And just like his glittering men's bridal wear, Kumar's social theme also made an impression with the audience. Environment and global warming were the themes of Gayatri Khanna, Ekta Jaipura and Ruchira Kandhari, who laid emphasis on eco-friendly organic fabric.

If social issues made an impact, the kid's-wear special by Gini and Jony and Rocky S was a surprisingly pleasant treat and proved that children's wear will never be the same again.

Think of kid's wear with attitude and style and Freedom Fashions by Gini and Jony comes to the mind. The show started with trendy jeans for a strong fashion statement. Denims came in shapes, sizes and designs with fun embellishments like patches, prints and detailing. The accompanying shirts were striking in khaki with the military look. The girls' section was full of pretty little pink shirts, skirts, knits with all the little ornaments which little girls love to own – tiny bags, shoes, hair, perky accessories and colours for mix and match clothes.

After dressing up the Bollywood brigade, Rocky S' collection for Gini and Jony gave kids a new fashion angle. His designs had the elegance and the excitement to take children's wear up the fashion ladder. For the girls, Rocky has dreamt up a line of ivory panelled skirts with gold braiding and tiny pleated hemlines worn with short knit tops or tie up cholis. For the guys, it was sharply cut jackets in white or denim cut close to the body in the latest silhouette. With Gini and Jony and Rocky S teaming up to dress the kids, a fashion revolution that will rock Gen-Next with their style seem in the offing.

The preview of the Pakistan Fashion Week was an added delight. Garments of several designers, including Sonya Battla and Hassan Sheheryar Yasin, were showcased. Sonya and Hassan are known for their stylishly crafted garments that reflect a fusion of Pakistan's sensibilities with western silhouettes. Men's wear had trendy jackets juxtaposed with long regal sherwanis embroidered with peacock motifs and kurtas with traditional embellishments. Women's wear ranged from long sensuous gowns with beautiful ornate necklines, to chiffon halter dresses.

The Lakmé Fashion Week, which catapulted Mumbai amongst the fashion capitals, had 54 designers and 12 sponsors for this season for their Spring/Summer Collection'08. This year's line-up had exciting names such as Falguni and Shane Peacock, Arjun Khanna, Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Narendra Kumar, Neeta Lulla, Wendell Rodricks and Vikram Phadnis. Ace designer Manish Malhotra presented the 'Grand Finale' collection. This year, Gitanjali Lifestyle, Levi's, Allen Solley, Aza, Freedom Fashion by Gini and Jony, Portico, Chivas, NCPA, The Taj President, Nikon, Peroni, Hitachi, Giordano and Buzz18.com shared the stage with Lakme Fashion Week.

Opulence, grandeur, beauty, and dazzle came together for the opening show, as Gitanjali Lifestyle and famed designer Neeta Lulla presented one of the most stunning ramp shows. The presentation opened with a romantic sequence by ace dancer Sandip Soparkar, who set the mood for the sizzling show.

Narendra Kumar's men's wear show was one the delightful highlights of the week – from the start of the 'Nan Khatai' band walking down the ramp playing a popular bridal tune; it was evident that the show was going to be a festive one. Western bridal wear with an Indian touch was the theme and adding to the glitter was Bollywood hot boy John Abraham who made several appearances on the ramp to an excited audience, which included his flame Bipasha Basu. Narendra chose a collection of fabrics ranging from printed silk, brocade, chino, corduroy, velvet and very shimmering specially coated linen for the ornate look.

Sabyasachi Mukherjee's formal and bridal wear collection was another attraction. Shararas, lehengas, floor length angarkhas, kurtas, kurtis, waist coats with shawl lapels, glittering dupattas and odhnas, shimmering flowing pajamas, saris in all their ethnic splendour – the show had everything and much more in terms of fabrics, prints, embellishments and glitter. The finale creation – a black multi-panelled patterned silk lehenga with exquisite glittering embroidery worn with a glittering blouse and odhani – was the ultimate bridal offering as singer Sukhvinder Singh ended the show on a high note.

Then came Bolywood dresser Vikram Phadnis. From the gentle twittering of birds to the soothing spiritual music, Phadnis's show was an eternal journey of fashion. He chose the most fabulous silks in solids, checks and stripes; added multicoloured floral and geometric motifs on the hemlines, sleeves necklines and bodice and came up with a story book of Indian textiles that will make a brilliantly colourful offering for the summer. Silk, glitter, embroidery and Vikram Phadnis's creative touches came together to give the Indian woman new options for formal wear this season.

The finale was equally grandiloquent with Manish Malhotra presenting his Winter couture 2007 collection, inspired by Lakme's Freespirit. The theme of the show was La Belle Epoche for a collection that had touches of the Art Nouveau era. With DJ Pearl rocking the stage with his variety mix of music, a jam-packed hall of Bollywood biggies and the hi-flying club of Mumbai making its presence felt, the final show had all the trappings of a Bollywood event. Lakme's four beautiful faces for the Freespirit range – Indrani Dasgupta, Raima Sen, Amrit Maghera and Vipasha Agarwal looked radiant as they sashayed down the catwalk wearing the beautiful creations by Manish Malhotra.

Follow my blog: Mixed Bag