Favourite Looks from India Couture Week 2016

Every fashion week brings a plethora of new designs and trends that are sure to leave you spellbound.

Just like other incredible fashion weeks, the much-talked-about India Couture Week 2016 just got a wrap up and has charted out the course of fashion for the upcoming wedding season.  The five-day extravaganza laid some solid fashion trends in haute couture. The eclectic designs and mesmerising silhouettes marked the prominence and dominance of India’s fashion in global domain. Let’s have a sneak peek into the latest trends in Indian fashion.

Bardot blouse

Bardot tops or cold-shoulder tops are not restricted to western wear only as the Indian couturiers have beautifully weaved this ultimate fashion trend into contemporary Indian wear.  None other than the most celebrated designer Manish Malhotra introduced gorgeous bardot blouses along with the heavily embroidered lehengas. The ace designer showcased his collection named ‘The Persian Story’ that included some of the breathtakingly beautiful dresses.

The regal collection had the old-world charm and the effects of royal Persian architecture.  The combination of heavy embroidery, velvet fabric and bardot style silhouette of the blouses made the entire collection, a dream come true. Also Deepika Padukone being the showstopper enhanced the grace of collection with her never-ending charm. She wore a stunning red highly embellished lehenga with red off-shoulder blouse which romantically exposed her toned shoulders and carried it with all the poise. This indeed was one of our favourite looks from this year’s India Fashion Week.

Pop Hues

Anita Dongre is known for her out of the world designs. Everything from the choice of fabrics to colors and to embroidery makes a statement. This year too Anita presented her collection named ‘Epic Love’ which included some of the finest dresses for the forthcoming wedding season. Her signature ‘gotapati’ work when blended with bright pop hues, created a lethal combination. 

The lehengas in striking red, hot-pink, eye-catching orange, sunshine yellow and electric blue caught everyone’s eye.  Apart from this gorgeous trend, we witnessed a lot of dresses with fringes like fringe blouses, fringe-edged saris etc.  This really made the entire collection a perfect marriage of Indo-western.  Anita does know how to make an eye-ball popping collection and it was indeed on our list of favourites.

Serene in White

Today’s bride does not shy away from experimenting with her bridal attire. From colours to fabrics to silhouettes, they don’t mind trying new concepts. Keeping this in mind, designers too give wings to their imagination and bring out fresh and all new designs.  We witnessed gorgeous bridal wear in pristine whites, creams; ivory and beige rule the ramp at this year’s India Couture Week. With lot of detailing and white as the base colour, the collection truly stood out. If you are someone who likes to break the monotony and take the road less travelled, the bridal wear in ivory and gold is your go-to choice. Names like Rahul Mishra, Rimple and Harpreet Narula and Anamika Khanna presented a real ethereal muted hued collection and made everyone appreciate the understated yet crowd-pleaser ensembles.

Ruffles & Tassels 

The high-voltage five-day long fashion festivity had so much to offer that it became literally impossible to choose the best among the rest. Day 4 of India Couture Week unfolded some of the spectacular trends. Designer Gaurav Gupta and Varun Bahl presented their splendid collection that refined the contemporary fashion. The highlights of the day included use of sheer fabrics for blouses and saris. The pastel hued sheer fabrics were used to create some stunning blouses with floral motifs. Even the net saris with floral motifs looked divine. Also his progressive designs included unusual silhouettes with fluid drapes that let everyone talking.  

Another trend that caught our fancy was the extensive use of embellished headbands by the models. The bejewelled headbands in varied designs and styles added to the overall grace of the garment.  It added the much needed sparkle and gave a finishing edge. Also the trend of aesthetically using pearl tassels and fringes on saris and gowns caught our eye. The modern silhouette with vintage tassels made a perfect garment.   Last but certainly not the least, on the list of our favorite was the ruffle gowns.  Strapless ball gowns with romantic ruffle detailing looked chic and sophisticated.  The international trend of ruffles was given Indian tadka by adding it to the sari gowns.  The elaborate ruffled gowns looked dramatic as the models walked the ramp with panache.

Mirrorwork and Black Magic

Day 5 of the fashion week was a pure bliss for any bride-to-be because the vast display of majestic lehenags and other bridal wear was every bride’s dream.  Designers RohitBal and ManavGangwani brought forward their bridal collection which was high on aesthetics. The heavily embroidered, thoroughly embellished and intricately designed bridal wear was a delight to look at.  A lot of mirrorwork, Kashmiri kani work and zardozi work on heavy fabrics were to be seen. Deep-hues like maroon and black ruled the ramp. Showstopper Kangana Ranuat made heads turn wearing one of the best creations by Manav Gangwani from his Begum-e-Jannat collection which was a deep maroon lehenga with off-shoulder mirror-work blouse.

Talking about the celebrated designer Rohit’s collection named ‘Kehkashaan’, it was sheer opulence. The royalty of the entire collection was hypnotic and never-seen before as models sashayedregal things like tiaras, hand-carved walking canes, crowns, belts, sashes, capes, bejeweled footwear etc.And the way they carried the fierce expressions on their faces did complete justice with the royal collection. RohitBal like his every collection essayed a new colour palette for this season, black being the dominant colour. Models wore wonderful garments like lehenags with cape jackets, anarkalis with robes and bandhgalas with jodhpuris, all in black. Not to forget the touch of royalty came with the wide range of headgears.  All in all, calling it an awe-inspiring collection won’t be an exaggeration.

India Couture Week 2016 took us on a ride that portrayed influence of different cultures on fashion under one umbrella like Islamic influence, inspiration from Russia and Persia, heritage and legacy of Mughal era, the royalty of Rajasthan and much more and its effect was truly spell-binding. Many new things in the world of fashion made an effortless entry and old things got a revival make-over. Amidst all the glitz and glamour, the magic of fashion was at its peak!

Celibrity Showstoppers at Indian Fashion Weeks

For the last seasons of several Indian fashion weeks, we haven't seen a lot of celebrities walking the ramp.

A small variety of celebrity showstoppers were present for the spring/summer season for the finale of several Indian designers. Within the finales, we saw Aditi Rao Hydari for Payal Singhal, Koyal Rana for Joy Mitra, Sania Mirza for Ritu Pande, Monica Dogra for Kanika Saluja and Arjun Rampal for Rohit Bal. For a long time now, Indian designers have included celebrities in big events such as Wills Lifestyle Indian Fashion Week, because it’s a sort of distraction to have Bollywood celebrities walking on the ramp and even better for the audience. However, having these celebrity showstoppers during these events remains strictly business.

For example, this year for Amazon India Fashion Week, there were an unprecedented number of celebrities who attended, but not necessarily for walking the ramp. The first celebrity that we saw in a show was Sonal Chauhan for Nikhita Tandon, which wasn't until Day 4 of the event. And for the rest of the week, it was more about focusing on the clothes than anything else.

Nikhita Tandon, the only designer who featured a celebrity in her show, stated that she was surprised to be the only one. Because for her, it’s not that important to have a celebrity walking during a show, but for sure it helps to get easily noticed, especially for the new designers and can be very interesting for them.

Showcasing a celebrity within your show is a big choice to make, and sometimes some shows need a celebrity showstopper to gain more attention, depending on the major part of the collection that the designer wants to share.

For some designers, they believe that there is no particular need for a celebrity because their collections are already well known. And obviously, they have to take in account that showstoppers are attractive of course, but they are also very expensive.

For a Grand finale of an event such as Lakme Fashion Week or Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, it can be very interesting and important to have a celebrity in the show. This is because the finale will close the fashion event, so it’s understandable that the designer will want to make a lasting impression somehow,  sometimes the sponsor will even ask the designer to do it.

  

For others, it’s also the fact that showstoppers will not necessarily walk for a show without a particular reason. Often, it’s because it will bring the showstopper a kind of gratification, or because there is a friendship between the designer and the showstopper.

So the real question is, do you think that Indian designers really need celebrity showstoppers during an Indian fashion week?

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Siddartha Tytler And His Bridal Collection

Siddartha Tylter is one of the most famous Indian designers in the field of wedding including his creations such as bridal lenhgas or the wedding sarees.
He graduated from the school of St. Columbas in 1997. He then decided to continue her studies in New York.
It was his first fashion show in 2002, which propeled him in front of the stage.

He now has his own label, which bears his name, and he is constantly innovating, it never lacks inspiration, because he himself said he was born to create clothing is his passion before everything.
Siddartha also is a new member of the FDIC and took part to his first show in the India Fashion Week in April 2006.