Beyond the Cuts and Seams

A fabric, a garment, an outfit. A thought, a design, a creation. All woven together through the looms of time to make a subtle statement, an indelible mark, a way of life is what one discovers at this year’s Lakmé Fashion Week

Fashion’s on a trip — a colourful high involving pastels, flowing cuts and fits and East meets West silhouettes. The Lakmé Fashion Week held from October 31-November 4, 2006 at the NCPA, Mumbai showcased just this as it urged everyone to get ready for a fun-filled and subtle yet eye catching summer. Featuring established, emerging and Gen Next designers along with brands and accessory designers, the Lakmé Fashion Week had appearances to emulate, designs to desire, and labels to target. The collections of established designers like Sabyasachi Mukherjee, Pria Kataria Puri, Vikram Phadnis, Priyadarshini Rao, Lascelles Symons, Wendell Rodricks, Narendra Kumar, Surily Goel, Sanchita Ajjampur, to name a few; took to the ramp to show people how to groove to the new beauty beat along with foreign designers like Nathalie Garcon, Leonard Paris, Clive Rundle, and South African fashion house Sun Goddess. Emerging designers like Anand Kabra, Chaitanya Rao, Julie Kagti, Payal Singhal, Bhumika and Shyamal Shodhan, Nikasha Tawdey, etc helped everyone feel the many spirited moods that spring and summer bring. Gen Next designers like Abdul Halder, Rushabh Maniar also added to the sizzle of the season.
After the excesses of the 80s, the nose-dives of the 90s, the dynamic mysticism of the millennium has brought a return to the fundamental values in modern life. Simplicity, style, all-encompassing philosophies, broader outlooks have been the necessity of every generation. Life today covers all this and offers many alternatives, allowing everyone to create their own individualistic selves. Designers at the Lakmé Fashion Week brought to life the mood for Spring/Summer 2007, which is contemporary; where the classics in our lives can be combined with the psychedelic and sophisticated meets streetwise with chic consequences.
The earth and sky combined to form loose cuts and flowing fits, happiness reflected its vibrant colour palette through suspended mirrors, a sea shell brought to life an array of apparel and the sun shone to bring the flame of the Indian summer to the ramp. Grand fashion concepts aren’t just yanked from thin air. Before pen has even reached the drawing board; something has acted as a muse, be it an age, a structure, or a work of art. Designers brought out their inspiration for the vivid patterns that will make the flavour of summer through pastels, polka dots, florals, khadi, chiffons, georgettes and more.
Down the ages, clothing the body and in turn the soul, has played an important role in our lives. It is a new season and with each new one comes change, some broader and more radical than the last. New ideas, scandalous insanities, life itself; all found their way into the Lakmé Fashion Week 2006. Vibrant hues, flowing cuts, hedonistic fabrics found themselves imposed on garments or accessories to create an identity. The Fashion Week was all about the unspoken…the body seeking nirvana in style.

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