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The trendsetters have made their presentation at Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week. We look at the some of the key trends that stood out.

Graphic Prints

Graphic prints are a fairly new fashion for Indian designers to dabble into. For spring summer 2013, collections used digital prints in a way to spell out their collection theme more literally. Like in the case of Ashish N Soni whose prints were of red blood cells, glucose, and vitamins. The collection itself was inspired by ‘microbiology’. A clinical looking wardrobe of jackets, blouses, pants and skirts were splashed with a zoomed-in graphic print of life cells. The print helped the designs be transformed from his signature best to something completely new and what was unexpected from the designer. Designer duo Hemant and Nandita continued their style of using graphic images onto garments. A sportswear inspired line was made unique with x-ray print of flowers in blue, pink and black on white canvas garments. At Alpana and Neeraj, the inspiration was snow and ice and interpreting the complex geometric shape of a snowflake onto the garments in form of embroidery, shape and prints. The prints specifically resembled the geometric shapes of an iceberg. Kolkata based duo Dev R Nil used print to define their newly coined logo for the brand. This logo is a heart formed with adjoining of two thumbprints. The theme of the collection was based on a Dev R Nil girl lost in a maze looking for love. The maze was depicted with use of honeycomb patterns and love was shown with use of the heart print both of which were used on the garments in a layered manner.

Color white

A trend that was prevalent abroad as well, the showcase of statement looks in the shade of white. A pure tone in which the clean-cut lines and shapes of a garment are the front-runners. Designer Rahul Mishra opened the show with a line of dresses in organic white khadi inspired by the traditional Kerala mundu. The linen shaped the bodice carefully and the lines were defined by the gold on the hemline. Alternative designer Kallol Datta showcased a pre dominantly white collection with hints of black. Even though each garment was made with the same cotton fabric and color, yet was distinct in the way it was stitched. Titled ‘ Grotesque Nonsense’ he left the brief to just that. But if I were to interpret the choice of color palette it seemed to resemble that of x-ray photographs of bones, limbs and fetuses, which were noticed literally as the prints.

A fan of the red-carpet dressing Gauri and Nainika also produced a white and black collection inspired by Cecil Beaton’s creations in ‘My Fair Lady’. Designer Vaishali S took the bow in a white cotton sari. Her collection was made from similar fabrics and color of white. Deconstruction of traditional Indian garments like sari, suits were modeled in long dresses, skirts and blouses.

Organic

In acountry that boasts of handspun fabrics and natural dyes and colors heritage in fashion, it is surprising to see this as a newly recognized trend on the runways. Designers like Aneeth Arora for Pero have made a name to utilize this skill of hand artistry and giving a more natural and organic look to the fabrics. The models are styled to wear her garments in a nonchalant organic manner like how you and I would wear the same garments paired with a classic pair of blue jeans and rolled up sleeves. She has successfully formed an identity, which connotes natural, organic and lovable fashion. It was clear that ‘organic’ trend was a winning trend when futuristic designer Rimzim Dadu took onto patterns of flowers. A fairly softer take by the designer who is known to use metal coil and wiring as fabrics in her collections. While many designers use floral motifs and linen for summer time, it was Divyam Mehta’s easy laid-back look that gave a significant direction to how we should dress next Indian summer. His idea is that fabric should resemble second skin – moving, shaping and draping the body shape rather than the other way around. What could be more organic than that?

Modernizing the sari

The hundred of years old garment sari has seen many tweaks in its life most of which did not survive due to its poor conceptualization. This time, the designers might have cracked the code and given options of designer saris that are a little different from one six yards long fabric garment. Designer Arjun Saluja who is known for making menswear for womenswear and womenswear for menswear gave the sari a completely new twist. The bottom of the sari was a cleverly self-draped wide legged trouser with front pleats that was paired with a shirt-blouse. The free flowing palu of the sari modified itself into a narrowing piece of fabric with constrained movement neatly placed onto the shoulder and hand. This Sari is not to be worn like the traditional one and neither would a traditional one replace it. Goan designer Wendell Rodricks took a more minimal route to show his version of the sari. A barely there blouse or bikini top worn with a pleated skimming skirt and a sheer stole to resemble the palu of the sari. This is definitely the one to wear for a resort season or paired as an alternative to a swimsuit-covering kaftan. Payal Pratap Singh paired her Kutch, Gujarat handloom saris with the traditional kedia jackets as blouses. A blast of colors, this was a collection for the Indian woman who is looking for a change in traditional wear yet wanting to wear traditional – a good reason to modify the sari.

Tropical fashion

Indian fashion week loves to showcase for summer season. It could be because our culture supports wearing bright, clashing colors in the sun. The glimmering tones sparkle on Television, during festivals, on the streets and during wedding seasons. We are not the ones to shy away from color and this is also noticed as a popular trend on the runway. Designer Ranna Gill showed neon green, peach, yellow, blue and fuchsia tones on long dresses, jumpsuits and skirts. Designer Malini Ramani who signature is the tribal-bohemian look also opted for neon pink dhoti pants, small dresses and fringed boleros. Designer Nachiket Barve and Gaurav Gupta each also added an extra boost of color in their collections having sending a bold, fearless woman to fight the summer heat.

Tags: Arjun Saluja, Color white, Divyam Mehta, featured, full-image, Gaurav Gupta, Graphic Prints, Kallol Datta, Modernizing the sari, Nachiket Barve, organic, Ranna Gill, Rimzim Dadu, Tropical fashion, Vaishali S, Wills Lifestyle India Fashion

Category: Fashion, Life & Style