Bollywood dreamboat Kangana Ranaut adds sizzle to the WIFW Autumn-Winter 2014 grand finale
By Asmita Aggarwal
An end is also a beginning, and that’s just what the recently crowned Queen of Bollywood Kangana Ranaut proved as the showstopper for WIFW grand finale designer Namrata Joshipura. A new beginning, where winter is not about boring blacks or greys, but a celebration of glimmer, glamour and easiness. Namrata paved the way with her sporty chic track pants and shimmering sweat shirts, with the very decorous Kangana taking the catwalk by the proverbial storm in a fitted off shoulder gown.
Day five of WIFW was one where greenhorns proved their mettle and the star was undoubtedly NIFT (Kolkata) alumni Mrinalini Gupta and her calm ode to Kashmir, a place which left a lasting impact on her, during her recent trip.
Mrinalini may be three seasons old, but her phiran trench sans any drama (embroidery or embellishment) was wonderful, and so was her Gulmarg lounge jacket. “I noticed that fashion was becoming very tight (in terms of silhouettes); my effort was to add ease and make it light,” she smiles.
Capturing the unrest in Kashmir through her military colours, slouchy pants, bomber waistcoat and nifty bandhgalas, Mrinalini adds, “The ensembles reverberated the lives of Kashmiris, who are living in constant fear and military aggression. That duress is what I hope would come across, metaphorically through the colours. It ended with white, which was aspirational, a prayer that peace prevails also an analogy for snow and Sufism, two highlights of a strife-stricken region.”
What was most interesting was the rope jacket that Mrinalini crafted by braiding several fabrics (mul-mul essentially along with jersey), to create an unfinished feel (selvage) where the ends, end naturally.
Studying at NIFT, Mrinalini did understand cutting, pattern making and texturing, but she feels the real world was a lot different, making it a bit tough for her to grasp the changing landscape of fashion. “But I am not a girl in a hurry; I prefer to move slowly. I do think what the fashion world lacks is an appreciation of clothes which are not embellished. My biggest weakness is that I do not understand embroideries, so I never attempt them,” she laughs.
But her peer Jenjum Gadi, from a small village in Arunachal Pradesh, loves the sparkle of embroideries, even if he had to painfully execute them on net and organza, which sometimes could not take the weight and tear. Some of the pieces took nearly 37 days to make, as each bead had to be placed appropriately to get the size and fit in order. But this is nothing compared to the struggle a young Gadi had to face when he came to the capital to study, 11 years back. With no support system or background in fashion, he had it tough. But not one to succumb, he started working with colours, something that has been a constant in his line. “I came from a small village, where we had one bookstore and two fashion magazines used to come, a month late, so I had no exposure to this world. But I was curious and willing to take a risk, so I left the comfort of my home and came to a city where I knew no one,” he remembers.
It made him stronger, he admits and also independent, less emotional and more practical which also echoes in his Autumn-winter line. “Easy silhouettes with a relaxed feel, is what I can do best. But bustiers and corsets which require construction I don’t indulge in, as that’s not in my design repertoire,” he confesses.
With monochromes emerging as a tour de force, Pallavi and Dhruv of the label Taurus, added a snake skin touch to them and a dose to glitter/silver to create sassy skirts and structured jackets. The peek-a-boo backs were interesting and so were the asymmetrical floor skimming dresses with stone encrusted necklines.
Tanieya Khanuja, on the other hand, decided to make a play with lace and sheer; her PVC pleats around the waists added pellucidity and the metal chains as embellishments on pencil skirts, a glam edge.
The quiet Shruti Sancheti, from Nagpur was another delightful surprise with her delicate floral prints on dresses in pleasing hues of teal and royal blue. Her love for palazzos and maxis was evident and so was her admiration for florals, placed on the pleats on saris to change the dynamics of the drape. The gotta and velvet borders along with cutwork and appliqué made it a perfect remembrance of the East India Company, her percipient ode to the past.
