One of the most exciting things about the fashion week is not just the excitement of discovering what’s in store for the new season, but also the opportunity to see how designers have reinvented their style from the last season and evolved. Amazon India Fashion Week is back with their Autumn/Winter ’16 #AIFWAW16 collection at a new venue at the Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium, Lodhi Road, New Delhi.
Kick-starting the 5 day fashion extravaganza was one of the favourites, Varun Bahl, who officially opened the show, and from there the day turned out to be a riot of styles and colours right till the closing show by Gaurav Gupta.
Here’s an insight into what we loved in Day-1.
Varun Bahl
With the inaugural show at the Autumn-Winter 2016 edition of Amazon India Fashion Week, Varun Bahl made a comeback to the India Fashion Week ramp after nearly six years. With his comeback, Bahl told his trademark flower power story in a contemporary context for the woman of today. His designs had a lot of layering, which provided with the possibility for a lot of mix-and-match and increased wearability across all seasons. We saw dresses in jacquards with ruffles and gathers and a ton of long jackets that accentuated the model’s body. Bahl’s signature floral embellishments and embroideries stole the show. This was the first time Bahl worked with brocade for his diffusion line.
Akaaro by Gaurav Jai Gupta
Akaaro By Gaurav Jai Gupta presented the Mumuksha collection which was completely awe inspiring. The designer featured handwoven designs which were simple yet elegant and powerful. Each of his ensembles had a different flavour and attention grabbing designs which were something else. Some of the featured ensembles had bold classic hues and patterns which were worth a second look. Accessories well accentuated the couture and were beautiful on their own accord. Crushed hand-woven fabric which was used in some of the ensembles looked good under the spotlight. One particular design that was quite appealing were the line garments which were paired with ankle golden pants. The golden colour of the pants really complimented the top and brought out its colour.
Hemant & Nandita
The designer duo’s Dark Enchantress collection was dominated by earthy browns, deep midnight blues, charcoal greys and deep reds that came with a splash of copper, gold, bronze and a host of other jewel tones in the form of embroideries. Dresses and shirts in sheeny jacquard lend the right amount of metallic edge to bind the look together. Hemant and Nandita‘s A/W16 collection’s look predominantly comprised of bold outerwear with loose, droopy shoulder seams. The high slits, deep V necklines and strappy shoulders layered with long outerwear in brushed tweed and wool gave the collection a romantic silhouette.
Not So Serious By Pallavi Mohan
Not So Serious By Pallavi Mohan was a collection filled with colour and charm. The designs had a touch of edgy fashion and a bit of quirkiness. The collection had cozy looking winter wear in fresh designs and patterns which were definitely wearable fashion. Can’t wait for the winters to come!
Shantanu & Nikhil
With their collection ‘The Last Walk’, the duo Shantanu and Nikhil Mehra returned to the Amazon ramp after a span of two years. As expected, the duo straddled two worlds, fusing Indian sensibilities with contemporary silhouettes. For their latest collection the designer duo used fabrics as varied as chiffons, silk nets, handwoven Bhagalpur wools and rayon jerseys. The Last Walk collection was represented through fiery colours like red, and calm hues like beige and grey to describe the transience of the designer’s muse who considers every journey of her as her last and is reborn each day. With this collection they have tried to create inherently season-less couture.
Kiran Uttam Ghosh
For her Autumn-Winter collection, Kolkata based designer Kiran Uttam Ghosh drew inspiration from all things silver. You can sense her affinity towards silver jewellery from the extensive use of delicate mukaish embroidery, surface texturing, mirror-work, filigree work and folk prints in her collection. Her look had a rustic tribal touch perhaps because of the use of Tibetan, Central Asian and Mongolian jewellery. The core theme behind her collection was heritage meets modern, minimalist conceptual jewellery.
Gaurav Gupta
Gaurav Gupta’s showcase, ‘Melt A/W 2016’, was inspired by the much talked about issue of climate change. By designing this collection, the designer has attempted to be a bit more ecological. Some of the garments in this collection were zero-waste garments which were draped in a way that there was no wastage of fabric. The designer has explored the flock-coat gowns and flared empire silhouettes, which can prove to be really interesting options in the winters. Boning techniques were used to sculpt the garments around the body with the melting effect of different metallic embellishments and bugle beads that give the garment a very fluid structure.
My Day 1 Look at the AIFWAW16
From diffusion to climate change, Day 1 started with a bang. Stay tuned with us to know what Indian fashion has to offer in the coming season!