Lakme Fashion Week 2016: Where Diversity in Fashion Took Centrestage

Mumbai: A Made in Assam show, northeastern models, stalls from Arunachal Pradesh, a plus-size show, inspiration from Benaras and textiles from different parts of India -- the Winter/Festive edition of Lakme Fashion Week (LFW) showcased the increasing diversity in the Indian fashion industry.

The five-day fashion extravaganza that took place at St. Regis here, started with a Gen Next show -- a platform which launched currently celebrated designers like Masaba Gupta, Nachiket Barve, Rahul Mishra and more. The 22nd batch of this platform saw six new talents showing their creativity.

Day 1 ended with veteran designer Manish Malhotra's show where Sushant Singh Rajput made his ramp debut along with Shraddha Kapoor, who is now a regular at fashion runways.

It was Day 2 of the fashion extravaganza that saw the best of creativity coming alive on the ramp with Indian textiles. On a day dedicated to sustainable fashion and Indian textiles, the event started with a 'Made in Assam' show titled 'Halodhi' where three top designers of the region namely Anuradha Pedu represented her label Naturally Anuradha, Pranami Kalita for her label Pariah by Pranami and Aditi Holani for her label Aagor by Ants Craft, showcased their work.

"It's good to see that we are getting a platform at fashion weeks now. I work with over 52 weavers in Assam and we need to give them money in advance to make a line. So, it's good to get more visibility," Pedu told IANS.

A stall from Yana Ngoba Chakpu, an Arunachal Pradesh brand, was a highpoint of the fashion week.

"We were supposed to be here for just one day, but thanks to the wonderful feedback, we had to push it for all five days," Opang Jamir, CEO of Yana Ngoba Chakpu, told IANS.

"This is the first time that the northeast tribal weave is showcasing at LFW and it' s such a great honour and privilege. We represent loom which is the art of living there and we want to promote and encourage young women to carry on this weaving technique," Chakpu said.

He added when you think of India, don't forget northeast states as for him "in N.A.M.A.S.T.E.Y." lies Nagaland, Arunachal, Meghalaya, Manipur, Mizoram, Assam, Sikkim, Tripura and Explore."

It's not just designers but two models from northeast also took to the ramp. Jahnavi Deori, 21, one of the two models appreciated their inclusion.

Interestingly, some designers moved away from western inspirations and focussed on Indian textiles from Benaras and other regions.

Using her key handwoven, specially developed textiles from Benaras, designer Payal Khandwala used the gold threads that illuminated the jewel tones on clothes and were reminiscent of vintage heirlooms. Ajay Kumar, Another designer, gave a fashionable ode to Benaras with a vibrant collection of men's and women's wear titled 'Banaras - The Golden Dawn of Time Eternal'.

Apart from out-of-box creativity on ramp, Bollywood glamour was spread with the presence of faces like Ranbir Kapoor, Bipasha Basu, Kriti Sanon, Emraan Hashmi, Dia Mirza, Sayani Gupta, Radhika Apte, Ileana D'Cruz, Swara Bhaskar, Karisma Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor Khan among others.

Radhika, Bipasha, Karisma and Sophie Choudry walked the ramp for four designers -- Sumona Parekh, Architha Narayanam, Saroj Jalan, and Sanjukta Dutta -- at the fashion extravaganza's 6Degree platform.

Even hair and make-up this season was different in terms of giving the best of looks to the models.

Daniel Bauer, TRESemmé hair expert, told IANS: "The great thing about hair trends is that there is no one big trend. It's usually lots of cool and interesting styles which are the biggest trends. This year I've spotted lots of voluminous hairstyles, with cool hair accessories.

"I'm also seeing lots of interesting wet looks hair styles on runways internationally. As with make-up, perfect is bad. When the hairstyle is a little less than perfect, you get to own the look."

He also said that models have now become more daring to sport new trends.

"You would be hard pushed to find a model with short hair five years ago, now we have models with all types of cuts and colours imaginable. This is great," he said.