Mumbai:
Designer Akki Narula calls them brats, but when it comes to thinking out-of-the box, the new age designers rule the roost. This was proved at the ongoing Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Winter/Festive where 11 youngsters kickstarted the five-day fete and wooed the audience with their design aesthetics and presentation.
From stylish unconventional men's wear to grungy women's ensembles, topped with minute detailing and interesting constructions - the presentation and creativity in itself was a visual delight for the audience.
There were more that 300 applicants from various fashion schools for the emerging designer's category, but only 11 could make it to the platform which is considered one of the best to encourage upcoming talent.
Farah Sanjana, Mohammed Javed Khan, Nikhil Thampi, Shashank Raj-Prajwal Badwe, Siddharth Arya, Theresa James-Roger Prince, Thinles Chosdup-Niranjana Adhya and Urmi Ghosh, who were mentored by Mumbai-based designer Akki, presented their collection at the gala event.
"I passed over my brat mentality to these designers because I feel that brats always make the best talent. All of them are eclectic and very different from each other. Everyone had their own story to tell. Communicating with them since the two months was like literally raising these brats, which is definitely not easy," Narula, who also choreographed and styled this show, told reporters here.
Let's take a look at what these young designers had to offer.
Farah Sanjana: Her collection was called "Collars Galore" and emphasised on metal work, layering and architectural shapes. The highlights were the white multiple collar jacket teamed with pleated trousers, rubber collar pearl drop jumpsuit and the brown and white organza multiple collar shirt.
Mohammed Javed Khan: The young designer showcased men's wear line that had long sweaters, kurtas teamed with comfortable loose pants, pullovers, long knit coats, quilted jackets along with military shirts and waistcoats.
Shashank Raja & Prajwal Badwe: The duo presented a blend of the Elizabethan era and Indian royalty where opulent Indian embroidery was mixed well with contemporary techniques. The end result was a fusion of striking apparel. So, the line had high waist detailed trouser worn with Elizabethan style organza blouse, and then the focus was shifted to more contemporary style and hence followed the bubble skirts, lace shift dress, and beautiful gowns.
Siddharth Arya: For his line, Arya was inspired by the cult punk movement of the 1980's and hence named his it Steam Punk. There were embroidered corset teamed with bolero jackets, micro minis, layered skirts, embroidered coat and a leather applique dress with sequined cape that rocked the ramp.
Teresa-Roger: The duo brought together the beauty of varied fabrics like Ghanaian batik, American fabrics and South Indian cotton and their line Retarded Velvet had vibrant colour contrasts, wild prints and were high on easy silhouettes.
Urmi Ghosh: Her collection was inspired by the tragic love story of painter Pablo Picasso and his beloved Dora Maar was what Ghosh decided to present under her label UG-URMI. The line was called "Maar and Moumoune" (name of a cat) and the focus was on embroidery with motifs of cats, boots, tight rope walkers, birds and cages splashed all over the garments. Dresses, jumpsuits and tunics in muted colours dominated the ramp.
Thinles Chosdup-Nirajara Adhya: They named their collection "Koslak", which means clothes in Ladakhi. The line had beautiful fabrics and traditional costumes of Ladakh with a bit of western influence.
Nikhil Thampi: He splashed saris to jumpsuits, from gowns to skirts and from shirts to waist coats on the ramp. Thampi used shades of black, blue and beige and presented a line for both men and women. The show stealer was layered ombre net white-grey top and skirt, an ombre sari and a white long backless draped gown.