Manish Malhotra

A ramp covered with red rose petals, a squeaky clean white stage and a 500-plus people count at the Hyatt Regency ballroom. Welcome to Marriage N Vogue, a grand fashion show that kickstarted The Telegraph Weddings, the “one-stop matrimonial solution”.

The show opened with trousseau queen Ritu Kumar. There are only two words to describe what we saw on the ramp. Beautiful. And beautiful. Classic Ritu Kumar silhouettes, colours and zardosi filled the stage all at once, the marriage mood enhanced by Sufi singer Imran accompanying the model to the end of the catwalk.

Ritu kumar

Aditi Gowitrikar looked every inch a traditional Indian bride in a resplendent all-gold lehnga. And ditto for every other model who followed. Gold glistened through the diverse colour palette. Burgundy to black to blue, parrot green to pista green, cream to caramel, orange to ochre. And of course, her signature shades — red and green.

The final flourish came from style badshah of Bollywood Manish Malhotra. A short film showing the couturier’s previous showstoppers filled the big screen. Then the Manish magic began. Colour burst onto the runway as models lined up for a fashionably fitting finale.

Manish’s look for the season is a cream base on which is developed a multi-coloured stream of thread embroidery. There was his signature shading, some shiny lampi, yards of net and brocade. The silhouettes were typical Manish, feminine and floaty with a hint of sexy. Boned corsets, shararas and kurtis also appeared on the ramp. Another look that emerged was flowy solid-colour lehngas in jewel tones played up by intricate borders and double dupattas. We also saw some saucy menswear.

The showstopper was an ensemble worn by Gauhar Khan. A super voluminous skirt worn with a cream corset and double draped with an embroidered rani pink dupatta and a gold Chantilly brought the curtains down to Marriage N Vogue.

Shradha Agarwal
Pictures by Pabitra Das

They came, they saw and they loved it. We spoke to Some special guests who will be back for more at the three day exhibition hyatt regency

“I don’t have a chance to wear bridal again but I wish I could,” smiled Indrani, wife of t2 columnist Sachin Varma. The couple plans to drop in at the exhibition after finding the premiere fashion show “out of this world”. Indrani has her eyes on her favourites — Leena Taneja, Agnimitra, Couturewala, Ekru and Suman Nathwani. “The concept of a bike on the stage by Dev R Nil was something so different. Right down to the Sufi singer who matched the model’s catwalk on the ramp, everything was perfect,” added Sachin.

“The reason one would look forward to an exhibition like this is that everything is available under one roof. The Telegraph Weddings is a good opportunity for GeNext to experience bridal wear and youngsters can pick up the latest trends and styles,” smiled Madhu Neotia. Seated next to her was t2 columnist Rita Bhimani, who caught the first five sequences. What struck her was how Calcutta is becoming so fashion conscious. “Seeing young girls in trendy hemlines is something that’s come into the open recently. I also feel Calcutta is ready for a label like Suman Nathwani,” she added.

“The show was wonderful. This kind of show is not expected in Calcutta and it came as a surprise! Of course, my friend Dev was the best but I liked Priya Awasthy’s collection, too. The best thing is that there is so much variety at this exhibition and that’s what shoppers are looking for,” said designer Kallol Datta. Pictures by Pabitra Das

Nowme

Nandita Thirani, Radhika Singhi, Leena Taneja, Jaya Misra, Nowme, Couturewala, Chhuti and Suman Nathwani dazzled the audience with 10 garments each.
Couturewala showed some nice designs. The opener was the showstealer — a red drape with Chantilly lace used as part of cutwork teamed with a Peter Pan collar blouse. There was old-world charm in some distressed, antiquated pieces and oh-so-1960s puffed sleeves.
Chhuti’s collection was breezy and fun, just right if you want to throw some fun into your trousseau. Live music, Hare rama kirtan if you please, and barefooted models walked slowly in a seriously arty line of clothes. There were tunics and dresses and some saris. A piece that stood out was a beige and brown tunic with hand-painted ostriches at the back. Another was a sari that had lotuses painted on with leaves planted all across the body of the sari. Teamed with a blouse that had a burst of colourful buttons.
Shobhana Chowdhury’s label Nowme saw wearable menswear. The inspirations for her digital prints were diverse. Mughal kings and princes, European Medieval era paintings, horses…. She had a luxe line in velvet too. And her models danced to live brass music by Bharat Band!

Suman Nathwani’s nightwear collection was as racy as a conservative Calcutta audience could take! After a strong and satiny opening in passionate red (Sahil Shroff in a flowy coat and boxers looked super hot), her colour palette moved to ice cream shades. Lace, feathers, net, ribbons — it was a desi (plus prim & proper) Victoria’s Secret all the way! Her showstopper was talk of town German model Claudia Ciesla who sashayed down in a tiered white nightie, a Swarovski bustier gleaming in the light.