Anita Dongre’s Contemporary Man!

Anita Dongre Man – The Summer of Linen 2015

Men, it’s time to push your sartorial boundaries as Anita Dongre is all set to bring in an evolved fusion of fashionable elements and classic couture, with her Summer 2015 Man collection. This summer is a summer like no other. Anita Dongre spotlights linen like never before in a summer festival that will make discerning men shed their collars and carry cool prints as they make hot fashion statements.

Anita Dongre Man – The Summer of Linen 2015

Delivering a sharp impact this season is the effortlessly versatile collarless shirt. Men now don’t need to carry their success on their sleeve anymore. This concept shirt crafted from the finest linen 60 Li refuses to knot up men who are too raw to be blue collar workers and too good to be white collar. It smoothly transforms and confidently empowers men of today to be natural leaders without mirroring their western counterparts.

Anita Dongre Man – The Summer of Linen 2015

Continuing the spree of inimitable wear are linen shirts and trousers in vintage postcard prints. Men never had it so good because menswear in India has been traditionally safe and monotonous. Anita Dongre, with her distinctive styles dictates fashion notes, freeing men from being slave to restricted old fashioned looks. Perfectly crafted jackets in dusty colours and weathered tones of orange, red, light copper, storm blue and saffron are a breeze. Be it a brunch, a stroll on the deck or an afternoon at the derby, linen flows in pure comfort in a canvas of colours and textures this summer; carrying the signature stamp of Anita Dongre’s sartorial style.

Anita Dongre Man – The Summer of Linen 2015

Ride the cool wave this season as you breathe a new life into both your formal and off-duty looks with the Anita Dongre ‘Summer of Linen’ collection!

Dorothy Perkins presents Spring/Summer 2015

Dorothy Perkins

UK’s most famous high street brand Dorothy Perkins announces the launch of its Spring/Summer 2015 collection, available exclusively on India’s leading fashion destination, Jabong.com. The spring summer collection of Dorothy Perkins embraces the key trends for the coming season with a return to the seventies and Sports Luxe.

Dorothy Perkins

The collection will be available on Jabong.com for its discerning customers from March. Jabong.com believes in bringing the latest and best trends forward for the customers. The latest summer collection from Dorothy Perkins is inspired by the 1970’s.

Dorothy Perkins

The dresses are longer, the skirts are A-lined and the trousers are cropped. Materials are a mixture of textures with knits and crochet, leather and suede – the chocolate brown suede shorts and jacket are key drifts. These rich textures are combined with denim – one of the star fabrics for spring summer.

Dorothy Perkins

Colours are a combination of muted pastel shades with pops of coral and indigo. Soft ruffle detailing and feminine prints, which take inspiration from the orient, create a seventies romantic bohemian look. Oversized peasant blouses are teamed with button front denim skirts and bell bottom jeans, matched with high platforms and felt hats creating a classic seventies silhouette.

Dorothy Perkins

For SS15 culottes are in pink leather and trousers are loose and wide – creating a new elegant shape. A fresh and modern feel updates this season’s Sports Luxe trend. Clean, simple lines create the look for the utility nineties inspired collection. Minimal boxy, cropped jackets in a variety of fabrics and textures – from neoprene to sheer and mesh – mixed with the cigarette trouser creates a sleek look.

Dorothy Perkins

Asymmetric tops and tunics add to the new season silhouette. Colour for this collection is exciting with poster paint shades of blue and green. Colour blocking leads the way – whilst the all-over whites we’ve seen in past seasons have returned. Florals are big and bold and are on full looks – on dresses and across short suits.

Rina Singh’s take on classic minimalism

EKA by Rina Singh for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

Keeping in mind searing Indian summers, EKA by Rina Singh showcased an array of cotton ensembles in dull pastel hues at the Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015. The cheerful, windswept collection comprised of layered tunics, shirt dresses and shift dresses. The line of outfits showed almost no traces of prints—this was a classic example of minimal fashion.

EKA by Rina Singh for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

A light-hearted collection for women who wear their hearts on their sleeves, this collection portrayed a delicate mix of pastels and whites—a mélange of hand-woven textiles in contemporary day-wear avatar.

EKA by Rina Singh for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

The clothes exuded simple tones of femininity. The easy styling, free flowing and soft textured silhouettes made the collection almost poetic. The interplay of delicate layers added to the charm of the outfits.

EKA by Rina Singh for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

Rina showcased tea dresses, dresses with handkerchief hems, A-line trapeze, boxy, midi, and long shirt dresses and tunics. Jackets were made of linens with patches of floral prints washed over them and then of course, the summer coats invited a lots of applauds! Trousers sported oversized hems, wide and small legs and pegged and relaxed boyish cuts that were paired with boxy shirts, knit tops and gathered, lightweight khadi embroidered tops.

EKA by Rina Singh for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

Embellishments revolved around kantha stitches on washed horizontal linen ombre stripes; also, kantha textures mixed with floral appliqués, coupled with delicate thread embroidery work marked the collection.

EKA by Rina Singh for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

Subtle prints here and there added the right dose of whimsicality to the range—painterly floral, ombre-dyed hand-painted flowers, ditsy pixilated dots and prints, and manipulated floral dot prints, played peek-a-boo in layers of linens and cottons tinted in pastel palettes of sky blue, blush pink, minty green and lavender mixed with lightest of grays and whites.

 

Atsu Sekhose’s dairy of Oriental trails

Atsu for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer2015

For the forthcoming Spring/Summer2015 season at Wills India Fashion Week, designer Atsu Sekhose’s collection brought forth an array of dresses and skirts in shades of grey and pink.

Atsu for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer2015

His collection revolved around structured pastel silhouettes; this was blended with sharp cuts and minimal accessories to accentuate looks in entirety. The satin-finish dresses with embellishments and flares lingered in my mind for a couple of days! The bow detailing, ruffled sleeves, well-fitted, linear trousers, and perfect inculcation of sheer invited cheer for the designer.

Atsu for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer2015

Atsu Sekhose’s outfits projected a marked oriental influence, which resulted in surfacing a brand new rear of silhouettes and architectural shapes. Gowns, trousers, cropped tops and capes comprised of this season’s choice for the designer.

Atsu for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer2015

Controlled embellishments, detailed embroidery work and intricate surface techniques exuded an overall elegance. The Samurai armour was emulated in many of the garments, with strong shoulders, sashes and sleeves that fluttered out from the elbow. Feather-like corsage units featured on some of the garments, swaying with the wearer’s movement, resembling frail underwater coral.

Samant Chauhan interplays with layers of silk and zardozi work

Samant Chauhan for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

Designer Samant Chauhan’s latest collection at the Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015 exuded purity through strands of soothing colours.

Samant Chauhan for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

Floral palette was juxtaposed beautifully with hues of whites and nudes to create a softer look for the forthcoming Spring/Summer season.

Samant Chauhan for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

Embroideries along with fabric layering preserved the richness of the collection coupled with the ever-lusted for zardozi work.

Samant Chauhan for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

The collection had undertones of romance and illusion weaved breathtakingly. The outfits represented a flow in silhouettes blended seamlessly with Bhagalpur silk in Samant’s signature style.

Samant Chauhan for Wills India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2015

Silk threads in cheery reds, blues, light pinks, yellow and cream moulded themselves gracefully with plush fabrics to procure into long dresses, tunics, skirts, trousers and hand-weaved saris.

Arjun Khanna for Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2014

Yuvraj Singh and Arjun Khanna

Red, amber and green embraced the ramp for designer Arjun Khanna. Orange/white traffic markers lined the ramp, which was converted into a two-way street with zebra crossing. Twenty-eight helmet-clad men marched down the catwalk and the scene was set for an almost martial like fashionable attack from the designer who can make a difference in men’s wardrobes. The surprise element of the show was Yuvraj Singh, who left the audience spellbound with his sexy moves on the ramp!

Freddy Daruwala for Arjun Khanna

Arjun Khanna’s men’s wear has always evoked great responses at fashion weeks. There is style, construction, detailing and above all drama in his collections. His rock star biker boy inspired ensembles, had colours, fabrics, fashion and much more on the runway. It was a part rebellious, but a very avant garde look for the coming season that Arjun wanted men to wear.

Arjun Khanna

High end couture techniques were merged with ultra-contrast fabrics. So leather, suede, light-weight wool and corduroy were creatively combined in one jacket. Texturing techniques and superb tailoring was visible for the crisply edited line of 30 garments. Cropped jackets, trousers and shirts were offered in masculine colours of the season. Black was seen in ten shades along with brown, olive, blue and bursts of off-white while hints of red were thrown in occasionally.

Arjun Khanna

Embellishments had a marked Indian feel with quilting, dori and cord work used to highlight the garments. Metal additions like zippers, rivets and chains added to the strong but fashionable look of the masculine collection; while detailing on trousers was intricate and innovative. Keeping the trousers to mainly white, Arjun sent in an occasional red, black and white print, or dark manly shades. The jacket lengths never moved below the hips, with lots of lacing on back, arms, sides and hemlines of the jackets. Crazy slogans like ‘Biker Bundi’ or “Indian Drifter” further pushed the fun element of the collection.

Urban Androgyny at Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2014

Amrita Khanna & Gursi Singh

Amrita Khanna and Gursi Singh- Urban, dignified and unique were three words that best described the city slick collection under the label ‘Lovebirds’, inspired by urban issues from designer duo, Amrita Khanna and Gursi Singh at Jabong Stage during the fashion week.

Amrita Khanna & Gursi Singh

Trendy, straight cut silhouettes made their way onto the ramp in the form of skirts, tops, shirts, trousers, jackets, tunics and dresses in simple yet stylish fabrics like cottons, satins along with neoprene and mesh. Pastel tones in mint green, pure white, elegant black, denim blue and nude brown worked to give the range a fresh appeal.

Amrita Khanna & Gursi Singh

Although quirky, the outfits were spared of heavy embellishments or layers, to make way for an easy-to-wear style that was practical and stylish. Subtle structure and laser cut pieces made each outfit distinct and unique. Street smart and sophisticated ‘Lovebirds’ by designer duo Amrita Khanna and Gursi Singh, was an avant-garde take on functional fashion.

Prathoni Yengkhom & Jacky Laishram

Prathoni Yengkhom and Jacky Laishram- Designer duo Prathoni Yengkhom and Jacky Laishram under their label ‘Poco & Jacky’ created a vintage-meets-modern collection for their debut at Jabong Stage during the fashion week.

Prathoni Yengkhom & Jacky Laishram

The silhouettes aimed at men and women, ranged from contemporary to classic and comprised of skirts, trousers, jackets, blazers, dresses, coats, saris and gowns. To add an experimental, edgy undertone, the designers worked with faux leather and silk and stuck to a demure yet daring colour palette consisting of shades like moody moss, tantalising teal and ochre.

Prathoni Yengkhom & Jacky Laishram

To further reflect the flow between traditional and unconventional, embellishments complemented vintage techniques like beading and weaving onto New-Age textiles and almost-androgynous forms.

Power to Women at Lakmé fashion week winter/festive 2014

Druv Kapur

Druv Kapur’s label ‘DRVV’ showcased stunning garments that depicted after-effects of a battleground, wherein the fighting woman emerged stronger and bolder. The garments were primal and eclectic, which depicted resurrected soldier. Untamed and unstructured in construction with textures handcrafted from silk, it was minimal.

Druv Kapur

The colours that so rightly gave essence to the collection were wolf grays and bloody reds. These hues were hinted at in the linings or on the garment as a whole, along with fur and button detailing. The bloodthirsty compilation consisted of modest yet fierce silhouettes like plain collared shirts with dramatic back floor touching drapes paired with pants that were lined with zip detailing. Another focal point of the designs was the fur like dress, stitched on blood red cape that further went on and draped around the arms.

Pranav Mishra & Shyma Shetty

‘HUEMN’ by Pranav Mishra and Shyma Shetty made another powerful statement through their clothing line at the fashion week. The fascinating duo enticed the crowd and created a line that threw light on the battles of a fearless woman. They based it on the delicacy and softness of ideal woman that subtly yearned for masculine separates. The constant change was depicted in the form of androgynous styling. This transformed into a dubious contrast with the character of the fabric, the craftsmanship and the colour that balanced it out. Importance was given to both the trouser and skirt that rendered it equivocal. Restructured evergreen silhouettes were fused with futuristic materials and embellishment detailing that gave it the perfect urbanised demeanour.

Pranav Mishra & Shyma Shetty

Fabrics like vinyl, cotton, silk, hosiery and classic suiting fabrics took centre stage as the chaos was merged to form serene silhouettes like the pants in suit fabrics that were designed to look sporty. A mehendi green pencil skirt with a white stripe and an oversized black jumper was another ensemble that stood out. Men’s wear had plain white shirt with a leafy appliqué in the shape of an ‘O’. Also seen was a classic grey suit sporting white striped patches and ankle grazed pants. This made the collection wearable for both the sexes.

Monica Shah and Karishma Swali

Proud owners of ‘JADE’, Monica Shah and Karishma Swali once again showcased a collection that one could be proud of. India’s heritage and culture were revealed in their new collection, ‘In The Temples Of Hoysala’ at the fashion week. The show opened with internationally renowned contemporary dancer Astaad Deboo who also closed the presentation with his graceful dance movements. The effort put into the collection by the pair was to draw attention to work of the artisans who, at that time had no idea how magnificently it would be admired.

Monica Shah and Karishma Swali

This dynamic duo rendered the beautiful painstaking hand carvings from around the temples of Hoysala in Karnataka, South India onto fabric to give the collection the grace and beauty that the temples emit. The exquisite ensembles were further enhanced in elegance with the moulded motifs that were discovered around the temples. The duo infused colours drawn from Kathakali dancers, which were subtle muted shades like beige and gold that matched with contrasting colours like pinks, oxblood and antique gold to highlight the contours of the temples. The silhouettes were clean cut and gave prominence to the colossal grace.

Nupur Kanoi

Nupur Kanoi celebrated bridal wear in an unconventional style at the fashion week. Marrying traditional with contemporary touches, the line offered loose distressed knits with cable knit patterns, slipped rows in hand knits, along with wool, herringbone and argyle patterns. ‘Close Knit’ is the unconventional title given to the collection, which was divided into three distinct colours – bronze, silver and gold, along with heavy metal revealed marked fusions touch and were ideal for the bridal season.

Nupur Kanoi

This interesting avant-garde blend of winter wear with bridal embellishments was used creatively for sweaters, coats, blazers, kimonos, ponchos and parkas, which were merged with lehengas, gherdaars, sherwanis, kurtas and angarkhas to form a new-age offering in silks and crushed tissues. The silver segment worked around cable knit/slipped row embroidery for the crushed tissue cropped jackets, angarkhas, trousers and the bundhgala suits. An innovative silver poncho T-shirt maxi and long poncho waistcoat gave a new look to western wear.

Anita Dongre for Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2014

Anita Dongre with Niladri Kumar

Inspired by the crafts and textiles of India, Anita Dongre’s ‘India Modern’ bridal collection presented by Taj Mahal Tea was a stunning offering at the fashion week.

Anita Dongre

Once again dedicating the collection to her mythical muse ‘Nayantara’ who is the ideal Jaipur bride, Anita drew ideas from the grand architecture of the Mughal era for her designs but aimed them at the 21st century bride.

Anita Dongre

To the pulsating beat of ace musician Niladri Kumar and his band, the ‘India Modern’ wedding collection started on a festive note with foot tapping melodies. A regal picture was painted by Anita as flowing bridal lehengas were given a modern twist. Subtle detailing and layering were merged cleverly with complex embellishments like gotta patti, dori and hand embroidery.

Anita Dongre

The rich fabrics brought to life the grand creations like lehengas, cropped tops, structured jackets with ornate pants and stylish couture gowns. The colour card was perfect for bridal wear as jewel tones of ruby red, peacock blue and raani pink gave the creations an opulent touch, while soft naturals like cream and flesh offered delicate options.

Anita Dongre

The first segment featuring jumpsuits, kurtas and tunics in black and white with gold work was a serene start to the show. Jumpsuits had gold edging, white or black shirt kurtas were teamed with embroidered pants. Cropped jacket had wrapped long tulip skirt, while a trio of gold, white and black embroidered kurtas made a dramatic entry.

Anita Dongre

Crinkle skirts or kurtas were striking on the ramp with just the right touch of embellishments. Long elegant front slit covers skimmed the floor with ornate trousers as the perfect complement. Lehengas were paneled and shown with simple gold cholis. Bandhani appeared for dupattas and long skirts. A sprinkling of gowns appeared in rust, beige and white with gorgeous gold work. Asymmetry appeared often for the kurtas that had cropped fronts that moved into elegant long backs.

Anita Dongre

Anita ended the show with a quartet of orange, blue, red and beige paneled lehengas with very ornate hemlines, cholis and dupattas. A trio of ecru jackets was teamed with raani pink, red and fuchsia glittering long skirts. Men’s wear had Anita’s controlled styling as a black sherwani or white one was textured cleverly.

Style Parade at Lakmé Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2014

Teresa Laisom and Utsav Pradhan

Designer duo Teresa Laisom and Utsav Pradhan under their label ‘Munkee see Munkee doo’ showcased an uber chic collection titled ‘An Asian living in Europe’ at the fashion week. The imaginative range inspired by Japanese modern art and culture incorporated contemporary European aesthetics onto silhouettes, which ranged from skirts, dresses, coats, jackets, tops to trousers.

Teresa Laisom and Utsav Pradhan

Structured with a charming, natural flow, each piece was a beautiful fusion of oriental-meets-modern. Layers dominated the outfits in unique blends such as wool-felt, viscose twill and poly-satin, while embroideries with chords and shaded threads helped add a touch of bold sophistication.

Teresa Laisom and Utsav Pradhan

Mesh work along with zippers, pleats and an innovative use of suspenders to connect pieces infused a sporty-fun vibe, balancing out the range’s diverse appeal. The colour palette comprised of bold tones of white, red, grey, black, dusky cream and blue, while also offering paler, pastel tones for a more playful edge.

Chandni Mohan

‘Selvage’ an elegant and unique collection inspired by memories and their part in human life by designer Chandni Mohan was a raging success at the fashion week. Classic, quirky silhouettes of the late 1980’s, graced the ramp with emphasised cuts and forms and were balanced by seams with anchor and nylon threads, for a wearable yet stylish appeal.

Chandni Mohan

Separates and ensembles comprised of box fit jackets, shirt dresses, shorts, skirts, cape jackets and draped dresses in versatile shades of night black, bronze brown, mulberry wine, and ethereal white. Fabrics ranged from woolen fur, felt, heavy cotton twill to micro crepes matched to stretch wool, foil jersey and Napa leather.

Chandni Mohan

Combining aesthetics from Frank Gehry’s movement in architecture, the designer focused on extreme detailing and skillfully used zipper accents, metal studs and antique gold buttons for a simple yet sassy edge. Nifty, nostalgic and out of this world, ‘Selvage’ by Chandni Mohan will have any fashionista reminiscing and ready to take on the world- fashionably.

Pamela Easton and Lydia Pearson

Pamela Easton and Lydia Pearson made a debut with their label ‘Easton Pearson’ at the fashion week with an Indo-Australian fashion fantasy. No strangers to India, this 25-year-old label, which started in 1989 in Australia has become one of the top sellers in Sydney and Brisbane.

 

Pamela Easton and Lydia Pearson

Working with Indian artisans for the past 20 years, this label caused excitement on the fashion ramp with the ‘BeBop’ collection. Inspired by the 1940’s BeBop Jazz era, it was a line replete with colour and exciting patterns. A line up of models sporting white wigs edged in pink, green, blue or orange set the mood for the show.

Pamela Easton and Lydia Pearson

Opting for only natural fabrics like high quality silks and cottons, the pair used embellishments, which were varied with glass, raffia, cotton tape, beads, cut and mirror work as well as hand embroidery, which added to the beauty of the garments. Contrasts were rampant in hues as blue, orange, green, brown and white combined with modern shapes and extraordinary details. Beaded slip dresses had flirty raffia fringing, while there was wildly striped multi-coloured tussar silk with opulent embroidery executed by Shrujan in Kutch.