Different by Design

The opening show of LFW Winter/Festive 2014 was a study in contrasts.

Amit Aggarwal dressed his models in deep saturated tones of red, blue, jade and rust, metallics and blacks; (right) Masaba with her showstopper Shilpa Shetty. (Source: Express photo by Pradip Das)

We weren’t at the movies, and yet when the curtains went up on the opening show of the Winter/Festive 2014 edition of Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) at Palladium Hotel, we couldn’t help feeling we were watching two back-to-back blockbusters. While one was a surreal futuristic saga, the other was a breezy retro romance, such was the contrast between Amit Aggarwal and Masaba Gupta’s presentations on Tuesday night.

Aggarwal was preoccupied with loftier thoughts of tribal traditions, their evolution in the future and subsequent modern interpretations. Gupta, in contrast, dallied with Roman Payne’s poetry, his central character Saskia and free-spirited Goan women in her collection “Wandress”. From their chosen soundtracks, accessories and colour palettes, to parts of the face they chose to highlight with make-up — Aggarwal dressed the ears with cuffs and vivid colours, Gupta’s models wore gold-drenched eye-lids — the two shows were polar opposites. Yet, in both cases, the New Age woman shone through.

Aggarwal’s models walked the ramp to Pallab Chakraborty’s soundtrack, in deep saturated tones of red, blue, jade and rust, tons of metallics and blacks. As always, technique was the high-point of Aggarwal’s collection. Laser-cutting, draping, moulding, pleating and lattice-work took centre stage. His trademark sculptural metal weaving technique met structural embroidery on matte silks, satin and crepe de chine gowns, striking a balance between construction and flow.

In contrast, Gupta eschewed any hint of embellishment and let the prints, colours and shapes do the talking. A strong 1960s vibe pervaded the collection, as the flower child muse wore a bouffant, danced to Boney M and Abba and favoured bell-bottom pant suits, albeit with Gupta’s trademark graphic prints in the form of geometrics, flowers, leaves and dinner plates. Cut-out maxis, trapeze tops, fishtail skirts, long jackets and flared minis accompanied Gupta’s favourite pre-occupation — reinterpreting the sari drape. Dupattas attached to sheaths and long skirts mimicked the drape, even as long sleeved tailcoat tops functioned as blouses. Crepe, satin and neoprene were her fabrics of choice, spelling fuss-free style. Besides a few fitting issues with some of her breast plate-like bodices and the Amrapali jewellery that felt out of place with some ensembles, Gupta played to her strengths, clearly targeting her 20-something clientele.

And while their aesthetic sensibilities and target audiences may be wildly different, what clearly unites young talents like Aggarwal and Gupta is their originality and singular vision. They may be short on experience and years, but both recognise their fortes, understand their market and have honed their skills. On days like these, celebrity showstoppers — Sushmita Sen for Aggarwal and Shilpa Shetty for Gupta — prove to be rather pointless.

kimi.dangor@expressindia.com

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