The Season of Non-specifics – Shruti Sancheti

Shruti Sancheti’s collection

Tell us about en vogue summer trends…

This summer the focus is on non-season specifics, norm core, Bohemian-inspired, and retro looks. The look is minimalistic yet trendy, tribal yet au courant and 1970’s with a contemporary twist. Midis, jumpsuits, long skirts, spliced skirts, maxis, crop tops, throws and jackets in summer fabrics like linen, khadi, cotton, summer silk ,neoprene are popular. Detailing like zippers, pockets, fringes along with tribal embroidery, tie n dye, and ombre dyeing are extremely popular. Accessories like metallic sunglasses, interesting neckpieces, belts, and sneakers and brogues are trending this summer.

What fabrics, colour palette, prints and silhouettes in Indian couture will do the rounds this season?

Fabrics which allow you to breathe like linen, organic cotton, summer silkier silk and all natural fabrics will be popular to beat the sultry balmy weather. Colours from pretty pastels like blush, custard, peach, mint green, to warm hues like marsala, olive, indigo, and watermelon red all will be popular. Block print, tie n dye, screen print, and digital prints will be extremely popular too; lastly, silhouettes like wide-legged pants, spliced skirts, long flowy skirts, maxis, midis and jumpsuits will be trending high.

Shruti Sancheti’s collection

What went behind making of your latest collection?

My collection ‘Nomadistaan’ is about the global woman living out of suitcases but feels trapped in urban confines of the modern world. Her soul is nomadic but her outlook is totally global; she wants to flaunt a bit of her legacy and culture down her sleeves. The styling of the collection is contemporary but the look is Bohemian.

Tell us about a usual day in your life…

I start the day with going to the gym to undo the damages of the previous day. Then it is working till 2pm after which I have lunch and again at about 3.30 pm its work time till 6.30 pm. After that my evenings are devoted to my family and friends. However, I live out of suitcases so this stability is always a temporary phenomenon and when I travel, which is very often, routine takes a back seat.

Shruti Sancheti’s collection

What would Shruti Sancheti’s woman look like?

My woman is an old-school one trapped in this au courant world. She believes in the unsurpassed legacy of weaves, textiles and crafts and wears timeless clothes, which have understated luxury and restrained opulence. She is astute, ferociously proud of her heritage and yet expresses her femininity and elegance through her distinct yet restrained dressing.

What inspired you to make this collection?

My love for travel, love for rich crafts, love for colours and most of all love for Bohemian and tribal fashion…

Marsala collection by Lalit Dalmia

Marsala collection by Lalit Dalmia

Lalit Dalmia, the face behind the brand of the same name is a self-taught talent from Hisar who has left the world awestruck with his powerful and unique design vision. He has shown the world how his elegant designs for women can take luxury to a whole new level. He doesn’t consider himself as a designer but a creator, who just doesn’t want to make pretty clothes; instead, through his creations he wants to make every woman feel like an urban goddess.

Marsala collection by Lalit Dalmia

His inspirations are endless and can be drawn from anything & everything. His label is synonymous with opulence, contemporary Indian and Indo-Western wear. His intention has been to create glamourous ensembles with traditional textures, embroideries, and craftsmanship juxtaposed with modern designs. He experiments around unusual fabrics and textures to create masterpieces, which takes us back to the Victorian and Mughal period.

Marsala collection by Lalit Dalmia

To sum it all in a nutshell, Lalit attributes his collections as ‘clothes with international styling and Indian soul’. If you are looking for enchanting and sophisticated fusion of distinctive traditional and modern designs with the stroke of muted classy and reserved attitude, you know where to go now! The designer uses a colour palette, which makes one feel nostalgic about our intricate and ancient eras in history.

Entice’s stint at Baselworld 2015

Entice Yellow & white diamond Y-shape necklace

For the tenth year in a row, Entice (Hong Kong), fine jewellery brand by the century old KGK group, participated in Baselworld 2015 with their exclusive booth at B 23 in Hall no. 3.1. Entice showcased its mesmerizing range of trendsetting diamond jewellery from its latest collections. Breathtaking necklaces exuding grandeur, flexible white and yellow gold bracelets studded with white and yellow diamonds in beautiful geometrical patterns, long diamond earrings with intricate detailing, spectacular emerald ring, exquisite combinations of different unique shapes of diamonds like pear, round, rose cut, baguette and more, set in white and yellow gold complimenting unique designs.

Entice cocktail ring with oval emerald center and surrounding marquise diamonds

The Jewellery displayed is now available at Entice Hong Kong exclusively and would come to India later this year. Each piece at Entice has been handcrafted to precision by an expert team of international designers at Entice’s state-of-the-art -manufacturing unit in Hong Kong. Each bauble is unique in its own and exudes opulence, making it a prized possession for the possessor. The uniqueness of Entice jewellery lies in its unprecedented grace and trendsetting flair, which is synonymous with the brand’s commitment to create the best!

Entice Yellow & white diamond drop earrings

Present at the Baselworld 2015, Mr. Sanjay Kothari, Vice Chairman – KGK Group of Companies said, “It’s an honour for the brand to be associated with Baselworld, the biggest jewellery fair in the world. For many years we have been showcasing our finest of the work at this platform and maintain the legacy, this year as well, we have showcased the most premium and best of designs from Entice’s pandora of excellence.”

Rohit Bal’s ‘Gulbagh’ unveiled at Quli Khan’s Tomb

Rohit Bal’s ‘Gulbagh’

The Wills Lifestyle Grand Finale by Rohit Bal concluded the Spring Summer 2015 edition of India’s premiere fashion & trade event – Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week. It was a magical evening at Quli Khan’s Tomb with Qutub Minar as its backdrop came alive with this magnificent show.

Rohit Bal’s ‘Gulbagh’

Rohit Bal’s ‘Gulbagh’, inspired by the rich and lush Mughal Gardens of Kashmir, is a tribute to the God-gifted and unparalleled beauty of the valley. Mesmerising the audience, through a visual and musical spectacle, the event recreated the erstwhile court of the Mughals through flowers and live music. With guests entering to live Sufi music, the show began with the resounding voice of the internationally acclaimed doyen of Indian classical music – Shubha Mudgal. While she sang, the models walked the ramp, adorned with flowers.

Rohit Bal’s ‘Gulbagh’

A delighted Rohit Bal said, “It is wonderful to be back and a great honour to be doing the grand finale at the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week once again. It is a perfect platform for me to show uninhibited creativity and express myself through a collection that transcends all seasons and reflects my sense of aesthetics without any constraints.”

Rohit Bal’s ‘Gulbagh’

The fabrics range from fine handlooms like chanderi, fine mulmul, matka silk and voile, while velvet lends a hint of luxury. Techniques like hand-block printing have been used with vegetable dyes and gold leaf embossing, with a generous use of quilting and tilla, and hand embroidery in resham. This subtle collection revels in an extravagant use of thread and metallic gold.

Arjun Rampal walks for Rohit Bal’s ‘Gulbagh’ collection

Ivory formed the basis of this canvas; embroidered and deep jewel tones enhanced the purity of the earthy textile. The use of rich brocade from Varanasi added the right amount of glamour and opulence to the otherwise understated and demure collection.This collection represents the craft and heritage of India. It is pure in its thought and follows a philosophy of timeless style. It is quite, calm and enveloped in a cloak of serenity!

Virtues by Viral, Ashish & Vikrant for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

Virtues by Viral, Ashish & Vikrant for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

Designers Viral, Ashish and Vikrant painted the runway red with their collection titled ‘Virtues’ at the Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015. Filled with vigor and a whole lot of opulence, the collection focused on asymmetrical dresses, jacket kurtas and elaborate cape dresses.

Virtues by Viral, Ashish & Vikrant for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

The designers highlighted anarkali with straight pants. The menswear sported white bandhgala jacket and red dhoti pants. Other designs included Rajasthani shirts, bandhgala kameez and sleeveless kurtas with side pleats.

Virtues by Viral, Ashish & Vikrant for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

The silhouettes were flowy and the cuts were linear. Their outfits imparted a modern twist to traditional wear. The colour palette of white, red, fuchsia, and brown were weaved playfully to cull out interesting looks.

 

The Modern Mughals by Tarun Tahiliani

Tarun Tahilian

Tarun Tahiliani, partners with World Gold Council – Tarun Tahiliani for Azva, Swarovski and Diageo – Johnnie Walker Platinum Label 18, to unveil his new couture collection, the ‘Modern Mughals’, at the sixth edition of the Tarun Tahiliani Bridal Couture Exposition 2014.

Tarun Tahiliani

Tarun Tahiliani

“We are happy to be back at the Tarun Tahiliani Bridal Couture Exposition, unleashing a new collection for all the Indian extravagance about to be unfurled in the coming year – hand draped, tucked, embroidered, woven and fitted like a second skin, these clothes set new standards for this studio,” says Tarun Tahiliani.

Tarun Tahiliani

Tarun Tahiliani

The exposition is an ideal event for people to wander at leisure to view this year’s stunning array of garments. It is a must visit for anyone who is planning a wedding or is looking for something to wear at a special occasion.

Tarun Tahiliani

Tarun Tahiliani

Art often gets way laid between creating and curating. Those who make beautiful objects need cognizance when they look in the artistic mirror of a credible connoisseur looking back. Da Vinci had the Medici family, Shakespeare had the royal court, Tansen had Akbar – patrons with impeccable taste that transcended art form, geographies, religion to put beauty at the forefront.

Tarun Tahiliani

Tarun Tahiliani

As the wheel of fortune turns and the powers of the world get reshuffled, ‘taste’ is not the monopoly of the royalty anymore. The modern day aesthete is a perfection seeking curator and for their impeccable tastes is Tarun Tahiliani’s Bridal Couture Exposition.

Tarun Tahiliani

The Royal Opulence

Sulakshana Monga with Ileana D’cruz

On the final day of India Couture Week, designer Sulakshana Monga unveiled her opulent bridal couture collection. And, her outfits truly lived by the brand name— Sulakshana Couture. Her designs brought forth underlying tones of royalty; hinting subtly at an era bygone…

Sulakshana Couture

Redefining modernist twists to traditional tales, her gorgeous attires spoke sheer class. Taking basic silhouettes to newer levels, her collection was indeed a visual treat.

Sulakshana Couture

Sulakshana’s take on her latest designs was simple—she thrived to blend aesthetics of vintage royalty with youthful flamboyance. Discovering a focal point between experimental drapes and bold embroidery, it caters to both, the young bride and the conventional woman.

Sulakshana Couture

With undertones of ethnic inspiration, the collection brings forth floral prints delicately floating on semi-textured fabrics, all based in rich shades of extravagance. The brilliant palette of silver and gold creates a neutral canvas with bold hues of ruby, blush- pink and sapphire.

Sulakshana Couture

Actress, Ileana D’cruz was the showstopper at Sulakshana’s show at the India Couture Week; she looked stunning in a fushia pink, stitched sari.

Sulakshana Couture