Rahul, Anamika shine on day 3 of couture week

New Delhi - For a winter bride, there were plenty of options, and his sartorial savvy was highlighted through his use of jackets and coats as statement pieces.

It is now the half way point for India Couture Week, and so we can now see some definite trends emerging - florals are favoured motifs this bridal season, ivory seems to be the new red when it comes to wedding attire and embellishment is three dimensional, and black now seems to be a colour that can be a part of your wedding trousseau. And the must have this wedding season is the long embroidered coat - you wear it over a lengha, teamed with a sari or just on its own. We say these trends emerge very strongly in both Rahul Mishra and Anamika Khanna's collection show on day three of India Couture Week.
Rahul Mishra is a designer known for his beautiful craftsmanship, texturing and three dimensional embroidery.
The fashion folk love him and evidence was the editors of Harper's Bazaar, Nonita Kalra, Cosmopolitan India's Nandini Bhalla and Grazia India's fashion director Ekta Rajani all came wearing Mishra to his show - a real sign of support from the media. Using khadi, chanderi and Mutka silks proved that beautiful handloom fabrics can be bridal too. Inspired by German biologist and artists Ernst Kaeckel's work, Mishra called his collection, 'Monsoon Diaries'.
It had an understated feel of romance - peplum jackets over saris, capes, and sheer panelled lengha skirts are part of Mishra's signature look.
For a winter bride, there were plenty of options, and his sartorial savvy was highlighted through his use of jackets and coats as statement pieces.
But could not help but wonder though if these looks were perhaps for an older bride, and there was an overall heavy feel despite his use of mostly thread embroideries and scallop edges, the layering and modest outlook gave it a rather mature feel for a bridal collection. Next up was Anamika Khanna, another designer who the industry watches closely. The Kolkata based designer is known for both her handcrafted embroidery and her silhouette, the designer who gave us the frill lengha, the dhoti sari and the cape dupputta, she fuses modernity with traditional in a way that no other designer does. Sitting front row were designers Tarun Tahilaini, Suneet Varma, Rina Dhaka, Varun Bahl and Sonam Kapoor - this actor has always favoured Khanna designs. Her embroidery is so beautiful, that you want to hang her clothes on your wall and not in your wardrobe.
Zardosi that is so fine it looks like thread work and not metal, micro pearl beading that seems more like fabric than surface ornamentation, Khanna is truly a fashion artist. For the first time Khanna looked to South India for her inspiration as motifs from Kalamkari art added drama to her designs. This along with 3D petals texturing gave a boldness to her couture line. Though there was no real silhouette that Khanna created this time around, Khanna played around with duputta draping and the sari had a feel of being oversised.
The colour palette though strong on ivory, moved towards a bright vermillion red. One of Khanna's safest couture collections to date, perhaps this designer has decided this is not the season to be too experimental with shape. In her collection note the designer has stated that was a timeless collection, and a piece from this label has and will always be a collectible, as Khanna is one of the few designers who put art before commerce. And this was apparent even in the jewellery, Khanna who has collaborated with India's best known jewellers Amarpali to create a line of jadau jewellery that like her clothes is modern, yet rooted in the tradition of Indian craftsmanship.
sujata@khaleejtimes.com
Sujata Assomull is Khaleej Times Fashion Editor

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