LFW: Young designers’ creative, quirky designs wow audiences

The 20th Gen Next show by students of INIFD was mentored by fashion expert Sabina Chopra. Young designers took the audience by surprise with their creativity on the opening day of Lakmé Fashion Week (LFW) Winter/Festive 2015. In its fifth year, the Grazia Young Fashion Awards presented shows by its winners on the LFW ramp for the first time.

Gen Next show – A creative spectacle

The young designers from INIFD presented their take on today’s fashion through Gen Next show. The seven designers’ out-of-the box ideas, inspirations behind their designs as well as experimentation in terms of patterns or cuts, set the stage for the mega fashion event.

Ajay Kumar a NIFT Delhi graduate showcased his version of men’s wear for the 21st century. A perfectionist who believes in details, his collection ‘Consonance and Dissonance’ was a colourful line of kitschy garments, which fell into place perfectly. With black and white and loads of kaleidoscopic patterns, which were unbelievably intricate and geometric with florals, birds and beasts, Kumar unleashed a colour story of lotus pink, cranberry, parrot green with hints of bright red. Khaki and dark tones of chestnut added to the wild colour story.

Delhi-based designer Charchit Bafna’s collection moved effortlessly between both genders with silhouettes and styles ideal for casual wear. Called ‘Elakka Ice’, Bafna moved away from conventional winter hues adding blue, green and gold with distinct banana leaf prints and floral hand embroidery to the designs. Playing with fabrics like men’s suiting material, poplin, cotton mesh, organza and leatherite, the designer brought in silhouettes that were easy on the eye and body.

For her label ‘Doodlage’ Delhi-based designer Kriti Tula unveiled a remarkable collection of garments that projected how industry waste can be up-scaled to create stylish women’s wear. Her collection was inspired by evolution of basics and called ‘Purge’ so she recreated the white shirt and draped scarves for the fashion conscious. Adding patch work, knitting back fabric strips from production waste and block printing; Tula displayed slouchy silhouettes with discreet detailing.

Cochin-based designer Jebin Johny’s women’s wear label ‘Jebsispar’ derived from Jebin-Sister-Parents – which is his family name, presented the collection called ‘KathaKubuki’. It was an amalgamation of two dance forms – Kathakali and Japan’s Kabuki. The eight feminine and quirkily pieces had fusion prints in bold colours of red, blue, black on a white backdrop in 90 percent cotton and 10 percent Lycra. The long sleeved cropped top with a mesmerising print was teamed with a printed pencil skirt, while the long sleeved maxis with varying abstract prints on a white background were ideal for cooler climes.

Bringing in intrigue and suspense into her collection, Ishita Mangal presented ‘Misprison of Treason’ under her label ‘Quo’. The designer offered new stylish unconventional twist to women’s wear with dramatic prints, slogans and accessories; for the modern adventurous woman. Delhi designer Siddhartha Bansal’s collection ‘Story Teller’ revealed an elegant feminine fashionable tale on the ramp. Revolving around the story of the mythological divine bovine goddess, Kamadhenu , described as mother of all cows, Siddhartha was inspired by the gates and doors of Indian vintage Havelis .

Grazia Young Fashion Award winners at LFW

From apparel to accessories like sunglasses, a new category introduced this year, the winners of Grazia Yound Fashion Award showed their creative skills on the catwalk with innovative ideas for 2015.

Designer duo Rixi Bhatia and Jayesh Sachdev, showcased their winning collection in the Urban Wear called ‘Love Story’, which was inspired by original art visuals in shades of soft emerald, ruby, amethyst and onyx. Their fabrics moved effortlessly from silk, crépe, georgette to Chanderi . Silk thread embroidery and colour blocking, which is the designers’ specialty highlighted the garments.

Ragini Ahuja’s label ‘Ikai’ has been in demand with fashion followers. As the winner in the Surface Texture category, Ahuja’s collection ‘The Hairy Tale’ had fabrics like silk, pashmina, leather, suede and Chanderi . The theme was created in shades of black, navy, almond, cream, ox red and nude. The dark, almost Gothic look was inspired by the beauty and the beast concept.

The Chandamma Cariappa label ‘Sole Sisters’ won in the Shoes Category for a line of khadi shoes, with 100 percent genuine leather with hand woven khadi fabric as the base. And for her label ‘Three’ Pallavi Dhyani’s creations consisted of six well-constructed ensembles, which took inspiration from clean chaos for linear compositions that were simple and understated. Geometrics and muted colours were turned into quilting, pleating, layering and grid patterns that enabled the designer to win the Label Alert Category.

For his label ‘Sayon’, Sayon Chatterjee won in the New Category Eyewear with his handcrafted walnut wood frames, which revealed an innovative approach to the spectacles as well as eye glamour.