All Summer in a Day

Amit Aggarwal’s sculptural couture collection “Magma” Kevin D’Souza

FROM sculptural metal weaving and structural embroideries to inventive upcycling — Amit Aggarwal has long been blurring the lines between utility and fantasy. With fabulous results, we may add. He calls it “striking a balance between natural and technical”, we call it the shock and awe method. He has created ikat patterns from bindi sticker sheets, paired polybags with ‘gamchas’ and used plastic straws and stockings to create fashion that confounds and enchants, in turn. His couture collection “Magma”, showcased on Day Three of Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) Summer/Resort 2016, was no exception. Aggarwal’s promised “mind-bending adventure” saw him take molten liquids and colour bursts and use intricate beading, quilting, draping, pleating and hand-painting on industrial fabrics to present a collection high on imagination and theatrics. The story moved from neutrals and metallics to textural stripes quite organically, but it was the fluorescent hues that bathed full skirts and then were lashed on to bodices and lengths of dresses and gowns that were truly captivating. The show-stopping ensemble worn by model Rikee Chatterjee was all kinds of fluorescent fabulousness. And while Aggarwal’s couture collection became quite the talking point, other designers also gave us pret collections that were youthful, breezy and totally on fleek. Here’s our pick of summer’s coolest trends from their runways:

SHOULDER TO SHOULDER
Summer’s newest erogenous zone is the shoulder. From cold shoulder cut-outs to off-shoulder tops, dresses and cape blouses — we saw a lot of skinny shoulder blades on display on the ramp. While Nishka Lulla gave us cold shoulder tops and dresses, Payal Singhal’s “Sitara” collection saw off-shoulder bell sleeves tops and embroidered cholis teamed with ball skirts and lehengas. Anjali Patel Mehta’s Verandah Prive showcase, inspired by French artist Henri Matisse’s painting Interior With Eggplants, also saw peasant necklines that bared collarbones and one-shoulder dresses in floral prints.

COVER LETTER
The summer jacket continued its reign as designers sent out various versions of the cover-up. From floaty full-length over-shirts a la Nishka Lulla, and relaxed vests and longer lengths at Antar-Agni by Ujjawal Dubey to colour-blocked versions by Dhruv Kapoor, layered on jackets were key components. The bomber jacket metamorphosed from last winter’s must-have to summer’s latest crush. Case in point, Aiman Agha’s embroidered and oversized bombers and Verandah’s pink and white creation that added a hint of luxe to the proceedings.

WHITE OUT
The colour white’s long-standing love affair with summer continued. From Verandah’s pristine midi dresses and tiered maxis with deep necks, to Nishka’s summery hakoba dresses with poppies peeping at the hem and Urvashi Kaur’s cotton smocks with speckled geometric elements inspired by the works of African artist IIuanga Kamuanga — there was a lot of creativity on display. But the ivory pieces that stole our heart were from Vrisa by Rahul & Shikha’s collection “Ahir”, where white base lengths were livened up with Rajasthani bandhani and Kutchi embroidery. Their bandhani pants and intricately embroidered tunics are must-haves for any summer wardrobe.