Kolkata’s tryst with couture

The first ever Kolkata Couture Fashion Week ended on Sunday and the affair was a decent attempt to introduce couture to the City of Joy.

However, screening participants and better organisational skills should do the event a world of good if they plan to have more renditions of the show.

While most of the designers showed bridal wear in the name of couture, the few who treaded the lesser popular path were Debarun who showed a mix of Indian and western silhouettes. Debarun sought inspiration from the Mumbai’s chanachur.

An earthen colour palette dominated the line along with desi embroideries and texturing taking centre stage.

Other biggies like Vikram Phadnis, Archana Kochhar and Neeta Lulla showed bridal lines as well. Vikram was the grand finale designer and did full justice to his role as he presented opulent Indian outfits that were well cut and finished.

The week was not high on the Bollywood quotient but celebs like Ameesha Patel, Diana Haydon and Mugdha Godse were roped in for eye candy.

Thought the outfit that Mugdha paraded on the ramp was elegant and opulent Indian wear, the other trends that the designer duo Kapil and Monika tried to portray — loud colours spiced up further with velvet, net, kamarbandhs and other influences thrown in didn’t seem to be going down too well with subtle fashion statements being the order of the day.

Archana’s line Utsav, as the name suggests, catered to the festive season and traditional Indian colours like emerald green, kumkum red, jamun and rusty shades dominated the collection.

The kali saris that Archana showed on the ramp looked like they had the potential to becoming must-haves of the season.

All-in-all, maybe the next time around, Kolkata will witness the non-bridal side of couture.