India gets luxurious as pin stripes, kedia tops and Pochampally Ikat make a play for the spotlight at the AIFW’16 grand finale.
By Asmita Aggarwal
As the country takes giant leaps towards creating a distinct fashion identity, two mavericks Suket Dhir and Rahul Mishra winning coveted honours, the FDCI decided to give designers a chance to showcase India through the modernistic prism for its autumn-winter 2016 grand finale.
The stage was lit with hanging lights which vivaciously brought alive the paisley printed ramp in gold and pristine white as design mavericks from Anju Modi, Pankaj and Nidhi to Aneeth Arora and Rajesh Pratap Singh as well as Rahul Mishra displayed extraordinary beauties.
The man who never disappoints, Pratap began the extravaganza with his ode to pin stripes, with which he fabulously executed draped dresses, teamed up with gold brogues as the roomy palazzos were revved up by natty gold cuffs.
LSR graduate and singer-songwriter Kavya Trehan’s live band kept the mood uplifted as Aneeth’s soothing navy blue, floor length dresses with easy coats made it a warm winter. Abraham & Thakore’s muddy brown voluminous skirts with geometrical gold stripes, and crushed gold top, cholis with hoodies were as pleasing as Rahul Mishra’s floor caressing belted beauties in ivory whites paying an ode to flowers.David added, “Frayed bling in khadi, mul-mul and metallics is what we came up with. The idea was to team up the Kedia with the ghagra as contemporary mix and match separates.”
Pankaj and Nidhi’s tribute to Pochampally ikat saris from Telangana in bright pinks with fringes were stunning as they were quilted to give them that smooth texture in the dresses, while Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khanna beautifully intermingled monochromatic prints with splashes of red. “We wanted to travel back to our rich past when patchwork was added to give it that ornamental touch,” says Pankaj.
First timer in the grand finale Samant Chauhan concludes, “Silk is a metaphor for me, an indirect way of going back to my roots and bringing to the present the essence of my past, transplanting it into the Bhagalpur soil. My work has evolved over the years and my appreciation for the silk has grown stronger. For the grand finale, I have challenged silk with its natural and raw form and applied an assortment of contemporary shapes. This year, is all about India getting modern, while our designs and styling is more contemporary the textiles and weaves we use are more basic that transcribes the ‘India Modern’ trend across the globe.”
Amit Aggarwal at #AIFWAW16 #GrandFinale
