Last few days have widened the horizon of the fashion paradise. The designers at ICW 2021 have definitely come back bolder and better post a pandemic haze with a myriad of creativity to launch their awe-inspiring couture collection.
Rohit Gandhi + Rahul Khanna made their debut in Couture and thus this collection was extra special to the duo. Their forte in construction, structure and intricate detailing was taken to a whole new level at the show. The key element here was ‘cutwork.’ Layer after layer of tiny delicate sheer fabric pieces were hand embroidered on the outfits to form a lattice. For men, the use of tassels and fringes added movement and layers. The use of coloured crystals and metallic thread embroidery added luxury and the element of ‘bespoke’ to severely tailored silhouettes of tuxedos, jackets and suits.
Tarun Tahiliani’s Artisanal Couture was an amalgamation of six looks – chikankari, pichwai, rangrez, Cocktail Goddess, pakeezagi and Bridal – that formed the whole collection. Additionally, the collection featured Tarun’s signature draped garments. There were sumptuous and panelled lehengas, shararas, concept sarees, kurtas, choli capes, coats, skirts. The collection also had coordinated shoes, bags and belts that were coordinated with ensembles. Brocades, zari work, traditional motifs like that of peacock, cows and lotus, mirror-work, jade work and varied traditional crafts and handwork were mirrored in Tarun Tahiliani’s enviable couture collection.
Varun Bahl christened his couture collection as Memory/Mosaic. Bahl has made it a point that Indian Couture need not necessarily be Bridal Couture and so he went for a bohemian look and rummaged through his archives, almost a 2-decade-old legacy, to create a mosaic of embroidery patterns and motifs on the ensembles. His focus was on the modern and style-conscious fashionista and hence concentrated on the silhouettes. There were draped skirts and dresses paired with bralettes, jackets with dynasty shoulders, lehengas, peplum tops with skirts, slip dresses paired with long jackets, capes with trousers and sarees.
Rahul Mishra named his bridal couture Kamkhab. According to him, “The collection is a sequence of dreams woven together like a garland of artistic musing, of emotions and of instances that we’ve subconsciously lived through. Like an emotion of personalised artistry, it is the hand painting of frescos on the walls of a family home.” The collection of scalloped sarees , off-shoulder cholis with lehengas in bright hues dyed in vegetable dyes and embellished with floral embroidery were all a creation par excellence depicting limitlessness of Indian craft and the immense volume of skills of kaarigars who toils days in end on each ensemble. It’s all a dream-like!
Text by Jaydeep Ghosh
Image Courtesy: Rohit Gandhi + Rahul Khanna, Tarun Tahiliani, Varun Bahl and Rahul Mishra
Find more about Designers:
https://www.taruntahiliani.com/
