Ornella D’Souza fishes out the hautest trends of the Lakme Fashion Week, Winter Festive 2017
Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2017 concluded last week and it was heartening to see designers resort to simpler cuts and make garments more wearable and inclusive of all body types. With each season the dialogue of sustainability gets louder, and this time, thankfully it went beyond the eclectic, but overdone Kutchhi crafts. However, we’d prefer less of those dizzying and seemingly repitive choli-lehengas, and more of the androgynous cuts, next season. For now, here’s a round up of trends fashionastas are to take from straight off the ramp.
Recycle is the norm
Paramparik Karigar united mainstream designers with master craftsmen to contemporise bagh, chanderi, shibori, dabu, batik, bandhej and ajrakh. Other sustainable voices that wowed: Sunita Shankar’s edgy handloom woven garments, Matr and Because of Nature Australia’s khadi and handspun floral dresses, Doodlage and Kopal New York’s patchwork shirt-like prints, and Anavila’s dark-hued unconventionally draped saris and blouses. Also, H&M Foundation announced its Global Change Awards where past winners had developed fabrics from orange peels, leather from grapes!
Folkloric charms
Gaurang’s ‘Chitravali’ collection carried Kalamkari paintings of Ajanta caves’ frescos with paints derived from barks, flowers, roots, pomegranate seeds, indigo, iron, jaggery, etc. To bring global recognition to Madhubani folk art, Neha Agarwal, through her ‘Mithila at SoBo’ collection, uses an ancient hand-weaving technique, urtu, to reproduce whimsical imageries such as fishes forming a peacock or nestling in the belly of an elephant on her ribbed, sporty matka silk garments.
High and waisted
Accessorise the midriff of your dresses, palazzos, skirts and heck, even saris, with all kinds of belts – in leather, crochet, lace or zari. We dig the leather corset bodices that vamp up Doodlage and Ritu Kumar layered ensembles, SVA and Masaba’s saris and lehengas, cinched with a belt cut from the same cloth, and the AMOH by Jade dhoti embellished with a zari belt.
Layer Slayer
Winter always gets you to pile on the layers. It’s best to stick with two-three hues, and a single printed fabric. We love the asymmetrical look Chola conjured for showstopper Adhuna Akhtar – collared shirt, chequered jacket over loose-fitting pants. Indigene’s ethnic getup for men is another revalation – a blue head scarf and kurta, black pants, red chequered dupatta and hand wraps.
Fringe benefits and furry tales
It’s dripping tassels from embroidery, applique and scallops at the bodice as portrayed in the Ritu Kumar, Sonaakshi Raaj and Ridhi Mehra collections. It appears in knotted clusters on an Arpita Mehta angel-sleeve top and underlines an Amit Aggarwal braided blouse. And by fur, we don’t mean you garb it like the Black Brothers of the Night’s Watch! Do it in patches, as in Shane and Falguni Peacock crystal-laden gowns, caressing the lapel of an ivory Shriya Som jacket or popping out from a broach on a Manish Malhotra all-black ensemble.
Gossamer love
If you think tulle only equals to tutu skirts and organza is for dupattas and saris, then these eclectic experiments are a sheer surprise. We’re talking about Monika and Nidhii’s frosted green and blue bridal lehengas with ruffles and scallops and dazzling resham embroidery, and an Anushree Reddy floor-length skirt with a zardozi silk blouse. The ultimate hipster mash of denim-meets-sheer is Shreeya Somaiya denim double-collar jacket with sheer cuffs over a red tulle long dress.
Floral linkages
Welcome to the rise of floral sprays and bouquets on menswear and androgynous garments that serenade at the collar, shoulder, lapel, and sleeve ends – in metallic, tonal or colourful variations. Summing up this floral game is a Narendra Kumar dark teal cocktail jacket with metallic-gold floral patch on the lapel. Ditto for De Belle’s jackets and waistcoats. We especially love the Anushree Reddy Nehru jacket and floral dhoti.
Cape of half trails
Waist capes and sari cloaks are the way to go this winter. A dose of avant-garde was the Hardika Gulati sleeved cape all-back mini worn by Kiara Advani. A dose of tradition was the Sailesh Singhania pink-and-gold embroidered cloak worn over a fuchsia sari. Pooja Hedge shone in a Sonaakshi Raaj waist cape jumpsuit number.
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 "Lakme Fashion Week 2017")
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