Thoughts of suicide at a fashion week? This may be a strange idea to entertain in your head while in the midst of the glamorous circus that is the LFW. But we all have our strange obsessions. Kallol Dattas preoccupation with morbidity was well on display last season,with prints of landmine amputees featured on the garmets. This time round,the designer went deeper into the dark side with his Remission collection,featuring the suicide,kitty kat,prison slate and road kill series. The clothes were typical Dattastubborn in their defiance against moulding to the human form and bordering on the unpretty. But that is the designers fortehe flouts conventional notions of beauty to produce clothes that are unique and wonderful conversation starters. We love his cheeky prints and total disregard for the rules of the glamour world. Mortality and destruction was on everyones mind. Delhi girl Rimzim Dadu addressed thoughts of death,guns and cold steel bullets in her collection featuring leather jackets and shredded cotton dresses. Dadu once again played around with textures,this time using broken rivets,zippers and metallic rings to give her garments interesting variations. The best items,though,were the bomber jackets looped,woven or corded,these could be translated into wardrobe classics. Anand Kabras designs,inspired by the story of Draupadi and the river Krishna,named after her,yet again showcased the designers penchant for storytelling. Using the colours blue,black and nude,Kabra told the tale of a river that nurtures and destroys. The flowing skirts and kaftans,solidly constructed trenches and slouchy pants work well as separates,which was the designers stated intention. But we wish he hadnt clubbed together resort,fall and Indian wear into one collectionit just served to confuse. It was Sashikant Naidus collection,Parvati that stood out on the fourth day of LFW. Fluid and flattering,the clothes made of cotton,tussar and mul had everyone sitting at attention. We loved the one-shoulder tunics and kaftans in muted shades,but it was the saris with hand painted kalamkari work that had us asking for more. Overall,though,the fourth day fell flat (no wonder morbid thoughts were floating around so much). There were few celeb sightings we actually saw shutterbugs chasing Tanaz and Bakhtiyaar Irani,so one can only imagine how the scarcity of well-known faces affected the photographers. Even the press coverage is so bad because everyone only wants to spot celebrities, we heard one designer complaining bitterly. And although there was plenty of wine and cheese for guests at the Skoda Lounge,nothing could eliminate the fashion fatigue. Most of the collections seemed highly repetitive and low on innovation. Masaba Guptas line yet again feautured the vivid purples,pinks and greens from her debut,while Myohos Kiran and Meghna yet again showed their preferred earthy tones and A-line dresses.
