Young guns push the proverbial style envelope; Hemant & Nandita go down memory lane, while Krishna Mehta pays tribute to Shibori
It was an appropriate song to start Day 4 of WIFW SS 14 – Kiss by Prince, as the zippy number added zing to Gautam Gupta’s plain white linen palazzos, graphic sea inspired prints and shimmering bodices revving up floor gazing gowns. “I wanted to give women free-flowing, A-line silhouettes and bouncy prints always add a fun side,” he says.
Greenhorns played with colours, prints and sometimes alphabets like Niharika to take us down memory lane with her ‘Back to School’ line. Pop colours, warm sunny yellows, Devanagari script alphabets along with Mathematical symbols jostled for space on her sheer drainpipe pants and denim skirts. Her punk-esque ripped socks, denim baseball caps, smilie badges and sequinned cheerleader, pleated skirts made a perfect accompaniment to Pink Floyd’s anthem We Don’t Need No Education written by the iconic Roger Waters. “My clothes are for a daring girl and for me this line was a homage to the best years of my life – which were in school,” says Niharika.
Poonam Dubey has been working with the women of Kutch and Gujarat so the endearing mirror work could be seen in her block printed, full flared gowns, lehengas and skirts which were teamed up with cutwork cholis, bold gold cuffs, armbands and anklets. “I think mirror work is the best surface ornamentation, it is has this ethnicity which revs up the look, instantly,” she adds.
The definition of ornamentation changed with each line, for Niharika it was sequins and beads, but for Rinku Sobti it was all about knotting fabric to make it decorative. It was a play of contours as tassels and drapes in striking yellows and Mexican pink gowns took centerstage.
Young guns must be credited for thinking out-of-the-box, much like Nikhita Tandon of Mynah Designs, who added trousers with her peach lace gown to give them a new dimension. “A lot of women wear gowns for occasions, they are comfortable silhouettes. I paired them with leggings too, for an edge. Mostly my gowns are covered, but this time, there was a bit of cleavage, thigh and leg on display,” she adds.
The boy from Haryana, Yogesh Choudhary of Surendri’s strategically placed cutouts on swimsuits, making them interesting, and he went ahead with his mullet and fitted dresses with plastic inserts which boldly exposed bare backs, shoulders and cleavage. “We have given touches of sportswear in our pants with the fuschia lining on the sides inspired by track pants; the waistbands of jackets are in knit much like what you get from sportswear companies and of course, the T-shirts were made fun by adding a ribbed touch,” he says.
School girl charm seemed to be the catchphrase this season with Hemant and Nandita getting their design inspiration from a 16-year-old girl, who loves flowers and for the first time they took the plunge and worked with denim. The full flare white lace skirts and pleated dull grey palazzos accessorized with wicker picnic baskets set the rhythm of the show. “The look was kept practical with peplum tops, tone-on-tone embroidery to give it a 3D look and appliqué,” says Nandita.
Pallavi Mohan of Not So Serious is dressing young women who like a little bit of ease along with jazz, so her bomber jackets were cute and so was her threadwork on cotton mesh. “There is something for everyone in my line and that’s what makes it special,” she smiles.
After a hiatus of six years Mumbai-based style guru Krishna Mehta is back in Delhi to do a show and this time she took the road less travelled by paying her respects to Shibori, which she dexterously converted into nifty shararas. “I love the sharara, you can wear it with a jacket and a heavy dupatta and you are set,” she explains. The discharge printing on aabhas and djallebas were gripping and so was the light cashmere she introduced. “I wanted fresh colours, which I call the colours of life. I have been travelling all over Delhi and I see many women here with thick kajal going about their lives shopping with family in Karol Bagh. Women like to wear clothes which please them, so my attempt is to include a bit of heritage with patchwork and tie and dye,” she concludes.