The opening day for Lakmé Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2019 received a fresh kick-start owing to the new crop of talent presenting its creations at the 27th edition of Gen Next Designers presented by INIFD. The four designers this time were Amrapali Singh, Madhumita Nath, Sunaina Khera and Ujjwala Bhadu.
Amrapali Singh – Nostalgia Revisited
A postgraduate in Masters in Fashion from Marangoni Istituti Italy, Amrapali entered the fashion industry with her label “Birdwalk” and her export house. Her collection, called the, “Queen of Hearts,” reprised the pack of cards through simple, comfortable and playful aesthetics. An ingenious use of intricate fabrics such as Giza cotton, net, cotton silk organza and silk chiffon was coupled with the classic combination of red, white and black colour story for the collection.
Surface designs such as mono prints, hand and machine embroidery, fun patches, scallops, stripes and lace, constituted the design elements of the pieces, complementing the fabric manipulation techniques such as pleats and gathers were used to give a feminine flounce and twist to the garments.
Highlights of the collection included stunning grey and black dresses showcasing web-like detailing along with a dazzling red/black calf length ensemble detailed with diamond pattern and cape. Dolman sleeved-bodice in black and white graded on to a sheer, white skirt embellished with quaint motifs.
Madhumita Nath – Soothing The Senses
Championing textiles through her label called ‘Ek Katha’, Madhumita Nath presented her collection called “Bliss”, for S/R’19. Madhumita’s textile experiences such as working with SEWA to master the embroidery technique by the Garasia Jat Tribes of Kutch add to her learnings from being a textile design graduate from the National Institute of Design, Ahmedabad.
Her collection celebrated the confluence of earthy tones such as natural, beige, raw white, mocha and soft yellow, with embellishment using organic prints, placed perfectly against relaxed, laid back and bohemian silhouettes.
Calming prints were placed over organic hand-woven patterns that were created with the mix of textures such as herringbone and diamond. Highlights of the collection included chevron ‘V’ striped pencil skirt, striped jumpsuit, tiered flouncy skirt, a multiprint midi and pinafore were great additions to the collection.
Sunaina Khera – Fashion Sentiments
A graduate from the National Institute of Fashion Technology, Delhi, Sunaina Khera boasts of a celebrity clientèle including names such as Sonam K Ahuja and Kriti Sanon For the Gennext show, she came up with her collection called, “A Long Way Home” that celebrated the unison of feelings of mind, body and spirit centred on grief. Each ensemble was used to represent an emotion.
“Anger”, was reprised through bold shades of violet and red extravagantly slammed with sequins and hints of lace while “Denial” was all about a sheer tulle parade placed with tonal embroidery on black and navy. “Depression” was showed via a poised collection of beautiful paisleys, highlighting the greys and blues and muted shades of pink, blue, dull grey with embroidery were used for “Negotiation” and finally, Sunaina used the bright hues of serene, white pretty florals shimmering with sequins to show “Acceptance”.
The show progressed through a set colour story starting from a black sari and beaded blouse, to grey tulle shaded dress with embellished bodice to a sheer dress in black net appliquéd with flowers over shorts and bandana top. The ensembles then steered to take more glamorous avatar with a flared maxi dress with beaded sequined.
Ujjwala Bhadu – Culture Craft Fusion
Ujjwala comes from a bright background as a BFA in Fashion Design graduate from Parsons, New York. She has associations with stalwarts such as Bibhu Mohapatra, Oscar de la Renta, Theory and Philip Lim.
Her collection revolved around a vibrant mosaic of a fusion of cultures and crafts flaunting intense textiles that struck the balance between functionality and wearability using several colours and silhouettes.
The colour story was inspired by Annie Albers’ weaving workshop in Bauhaus with hues such as blue, off-white, yellow, rosy tones and peachy red bringing out the beauty of fabrics such as cotton sateen, while silk Gazar was showcased with a value addition of tactile surfaces comprising of laser cuts, pleats and inserts. Knitwear fabrics were also incorporated for the fitted dresses and tops.
Details such as knit pleats, knitted raffia fringe were placed compatibly with textural weaves. Highlights of the collection included oversized trousers with red quirky lines, a long-sleeved jumper in multi-coloured horizontal stripes, tassels playing at the hemline of a slinky knit sheath among the skirts, pinafore, mini shorts and a slip dress that adorned geometric prints.
“For the gen next show, we went for a statement look. I wanted to use distinct eyebrows with strong pops of colour creating a washed tint. For the lip we wanted to use a rich nude that complemented the pop of colour. We used the “brunch nude” shade from the new Lakmé Absolute Matte Ultimate lip colours with argan oil”, said Mariana, official Lakmé makeup expert at Lakmé Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2019.
