Mixed Up

As the lights dimmed,we craned our necks to see what was to come. The opening ensemble was a long mulmul kurta in black and white worn with slim chiffon drawstring trousers and a sports bra. The light and breezy rhythm to the collection continued with a printed “sarini” (the designer’s modern take on a sari worn over hot pants),an ecru sari in Bengal handloom and an aquamarine long dress in chanderi. Just as the collection set the tone for a day at the beach,Dayal presented her Indian bridal line. To give her credit,the designer remained true to her inspiration “Dilli”,seen through its heritage lens of Islamic art and Mughal traditions. There were prints on cotton and silk of Iris stalks and magnolia flowers. The silhouettes were culled from tradition but presented in a contemporary way with the likes of sharara-inspired trousers,a tunic “inspired by emperor Jahangir’s wardrobe”,and long kalidar kurtas that worked well as a dress,among others. The collection also embraced silk crepe but again the lightness of it made it look like a summer-friendly collection.

Her colour palette of neon orange,aquamarine,teal,yellow,lime and mint was a good start,though we thought for bridal wear it was a bit ambiguous. Formal wear saw delicate gota,needlework and gemstone embroidery. She then brought in elements of autumn-winter with velvet kotis,but the collection ended abruptly. This mix of her signature bohemian styling,use of diaphanous fabrics,references to heritage but not all-out Delhi,sent out mixed signals.

What’s On

Day 2 — March 14

Ruchika Sachdeva

Paromita Banerjee

Tanvi Kedia

Hemant and Nandita

Pallavi Mohan

Samant Chauhan

Urvashi Kaur

Tarun Tahiliani

Alpana and Neeraj

Arjun

Shantanu and Nikhil

Anju Modi