NEW DELHI: Last week, ten fashion designers showcased their individual take on couture while paying tribute to Indian craftsmanship at the FDCI India Couture Week 2019. Designers like Sulakshana Monga wove a collection inspired by the colours of Varanasi, while Gaurav Gupta’s ‘wearable art’ celebrated textured chikankari with zardosi. The week-long event had a resounding finale on Sunday with Tarun Tahiliani’s collection Bloom, inspired by the “metamorphosis of the Indian bride with a synthesis of different cultures.”
Spread over eight acres in Lutyens’ Delhi, the historic Bikaner House became Tahiliani’s venue. Spacewise, it was too small to erect a traditional-sized ramp, so the approach to the walk was unconventionally creative. The models sashayed down the first floor to get from one ballroom to the other. This arrangement allowed viewers a closeup of the collection.
With heavy cello tunes the walk began, with models donning lightweight lehengas, shararas, saris anarkalis and jumpsuits in peach, dusty rose, blush pink, coral, teal, vintage gold and aqua. What dazzled the audience the most was an embellished trailing lehenga encrusted with almost 100,000 exquisite Swarovski crystals into its floral inspired appliqué embroidery.
Except for one brocade lehenga, you could hardly spot the fabric in remaining 71 garments as these were heavily covered in intricate surface ornamentation. “The fabric is really just the base on which all the couture techniques happen because Indian couture is primarily about surface ornamentation,” explained the designer, who recently turned 57.
The highlight was the most talked about Kashmir-inspired Kashida embroidery. Other embellishments adorning the customised crinolines for each lehenga were resham-crystal-badla and Swarovski crystals. The designer played with floral motifs combined with French knots, tulle, jaali burned in the fabric, lace, and ombré beading. And for the final touch, he used the fine polki and jadau jewellery pieces designed by Paramani Jewels for that extra panache.
Towards the end, the anticipation to see the showstopper grew as people kept turning to the entrance from where the models were filing out. But Tahiliani closed the curtains with an anonymous ‘non-show-stopper-show-stopper’ who walked to the Lady Gaga’s track Always remember us this way. The model wore a white frill dress with a matching sheer pulled over her face and a sticker of “showstopper chic” placed on the front and at the back “The Showstops After”.
“My models are my showstoppers,” says Tahiliani, who is celebrating his 25th year in the fashion industry. He believes the showstopper trend has now gone out of control and to rectify this, he pulled off the sheer-over-the-face look. “I don’t need any other lovelyface to be my showstopper as it’s my models who walk down the ramp wearing my clothing line and they are the stars of my show,” he signed off.