Osaa by Adarsh Makharia

Adarsh Makharia will be debuting at Lakme Fashion Week with a collection called Ikebana Ki Kahani, inspired by the Japanese floral arrangement art. The line interprets the simplicity of composition and colours of Ikebana art. Each shade in the collection is inspired from Ikebana. The crystal blue of water that infuses life, the lush green of leaves that evokes wilderness, the bright colours of flowers that herald spring, all are brought to life with handloom weaves, fine craftsmanship and fusion silhouettes. Intricate applique with zari and zardozi work on fluid silk, woven tissue, flat chiffon and mulberry silk are the highlights of the line.

“As a designer I am a seeker. Geometrical patterns, floral motifs and lavish use of embroidery combined with bold colours make this collection my deepest enquiry into the feminine form. It is intrepid, elaborate and yet delicate,” says Adarsh.

Vishwa by Pinki Sinha

It’s Pinki Sinha’s first time at Lakme Fashion Week too and she will showcase the collection Zari-Dhaga. Working exclusively with the Benarasi fabric, Pinki will show a line that highlights the heritage weave in various forms. Along with saris there will be fluid Anarkalis, kurtas, skirts and shararas. “The collection has been made of pure Benarasi textile and the dying art of kadwa and jangla have been used liberally. A twist to the traditional Benarasi base using checks has turned out interesting and have been used to make off-shoulder capes with Afghan pants on a contemporary note to the very traditional elegant looks,” says the designer.

Sayantan Sarkar

Sayantan is a regular on the LFW ramp and this season the Calcutta boy will be sending out a line called Children Of War, on August 18, the third day of the fashion week to be held at The St. Regis, Mumbai. “Modern day urbanisation has left us with a constant desire for change for more. This greed has driven an internal strife resulting in a conflict with our natural simplicity. The struggle to fit into this race makes us susceptible to a war within ourselves every day, resulting into our generation to be the Children of War,” reads his collection note. Inspired by military uniforms, the silhouettes revolve around the contradiction between structure and fluidity. The colour palette consists of olive, dark burgundy and navy, teamed with sap green, khaki brown and muted gold, which adds a hint of metallic. The fabrics used are handloom weaves developed by Sayantan himself.

Ruceru

The Calcutta-based brand by sister duo Rashi Agarwal and Ruchi Roongta will be showing a collection inspired by nature, titled The Fallen Leaves. The label specialises in heavy bridal and luxury pret and retails from their studio in Sunny Park. For their fall/winter ’17 line, they’ve used a nature-inspired palette.

Vasundhara Mantri

The jewellery designer will be presenting Reverence, drawing inspiration from Indian-origin flowers that are typically offered to deities. “As the name suggests, the Reverence collection is as much a tribute to the ultimate force as it is a token of gratitude to creativity itself. This collection is unique for its intricate detailing and use of variegated textures and finishes to authentically capture various elements,” says Vasundhara.

THE GRAND OPENING NIGHT SHOW

The Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2017 will see a big deviation from its set pattern of the past 17 years. Instead of the grand finale that is the most-looked-forward-to show of the event, this season will feature a Grand Opening Night Show. The grand finale designer’s job was to create a collection especially for LFW that interprets Lakme’s beauty statement of the season. This role this season goes to the Grand Opening Night designer. The chosen designer: Sanjay Garg. The beauty statement: Liquid Gold Argan Oil.

The designer of Raw Mango fame will be putting together a larger-than-life show at the iconic Royal Opera House in Mumbai on August 16 night. Sanjay Garg answered some quick queries from t2 about his forthcoming show.

Why did you decide to work with chikankari for your Lakme Fashion Week collection?
Raw Mango has always worked with handloom and we want to show a different way of showing handloom. In this collection all the garments are done in handloom and then chikankari is done over the fabrics. So we change the whole raw material. It was the right embroidery to choose to go with the handloom fabrics. 

Raw Mango is known for its extensive work with Benarasi. Is chikankari your new area of focus?
Yes absolutely. I think one would like to always question and my work is a kind of dialogue with myself. As a designer you always want to question and explore different materials, different aspects of textiles. I think it’s too early for me to say handlooms, or Benarasis or Chanderi or chikankari… I think I have just started my journey and it is only my fourth collection. 

How are you going to reinvent the traditional Lucknow chikan?
The main focus here is on fine chikankari work and to change the chiffon and georgette material, commonly used as the base, to cotton, to make it absolutely apt for the weather. Other than that we looked and questioned the whole imagery of floral and paisley motifs in chikankari. We have used for the first time the figurative motifs. We have created a different vocabulary of chikankari in this collection. 

How have you interpreted Liquid Gold Argan Oil in your line?
They call argan oil a drop of gold. But my interpretation here is not the gold… argan oil is something used to enhance beauty, but you don’t see it like you see make-up. It’s to nourish your skin, it’s like second skin. In the same way, the chikan work is not really standing out, it’s almost like a handwoven fabric, like the embroidery is almost handwoven in the fabric. 

Smita Roy Chowdhury