Bling Up,Bling Down

To be young,rich and to fall in love on foreign lands (or more befittingly,on the beach) — if designer Monisha Jaising’s collection,“Happily Ever After”,was anything close to the cliched idea of love and destination weddings,we would’ve been prepared for what followed. The Mumbai-based designer’s “bride” was either in a shocking red Banarasi floor-sweeping gown holding an Indian parasol,a Star Trek peplum mini dress,or in a “Prince” sherwani flung over bejewelled mogul flower-laden romper. So much for a beach wedding.

For her collection,Jaising made use of fabrics such as wool crepe,mul,satin,brocade and lingerie lace,with an abundance of zardozi,sequins and block prints. Her clothes were dipped in bold hues such as blue,red,gold,fluorescent tones and green. We warmed up to a few whacky ones,especially those involving black Louis XV jackets,rife with baroque embroidery,used either to appear as a gown or teamed with leather pants. However,her trademark bejewelled,embroidered and printed elements — which appeared on kurtis (another trademark),lehengas,gowns leggings,saris and dresses — often resulted in the collection oscillating between being garish and utterly understated. Despite that,in the end,when a model playfully stormed on the ramp,wearing nothing but a white bathrobe,on its back boldly encrusted,in gold and pink,“Maharani”,we couldn’t help but smile at the fun of it all,conveniently forgetting all the other real brides Jaising had purported for the show.