Season 2 of the Pune Fashion Week thankfully got better and we’re glad that after last year’s criticism, they pulled up their socks. Showcasing work from prominent designers like Rocky S, Nandita Mehtani, Deepak Shah, Nivedita Saboo, Satya Paul and Vikram Phadnis, the 3 day event saw some note worthy designs and at the same time unimpressive work. [Photos by Antariksh Jain]
Day 1
Raakesh Agarvwal’s collection with warm and pastel colors ranging like pink, orange, red and yellow. A mix of short and long dresses, jacket and pant ensembles, saris, long kurtas and lehengas used Lycra, chiffon, silk and velvet. Embroidery and embellishments brought the shimmer to the collection but the perspex bejeweling needs more attention as they easily lodged off during the model’s brisk walk down the ramp.
Surily Goel focused on evening wear and consisted of dresses and tunics, most of them being one-shoulder variants.
Mandira Wirk started with dresses, with an inclusion of a jumpsuit and a jacket-skirt combination. While the fluorescent colored short dresses felt out of place, the rest of collection was praise worthy. Some of the pieces were in a metallic makeover making them specifically stand out in the entire week’s showcase. Zips were used prominently in these designs. The collection changed to Indian wear with brocade being the most used element in the long kurta churidars & sherwanis and embellished saris.
Satya Paul’s ‘Art of Tarot’ range was a disappointment for the brand name had created expectations. Prime use of red and green across saris, lehengas and dresses were seen with layered Indian prints and self design cloth using chiffon and georgette. The only impressive pieces were the green net lehenga paired with a jacket and the black/purple sari with a collared blouse.
Day 2
Payal Singhal brought brocade once again to the ramp. Ankle length kurtas with purple velvet hemlines, dresses and lehengas using chiffon and georgette. A green jumpsuit stood out particularly and a pink evening dress with a peek of the navel through a slit was simple yet classic. Also notable was the shrug like jacket with an encrusted lapel bridge.
Amongst the clothes were accessories designed by the Golechas and Malini Agarwalla’s line called Malaga. The Golechas collection saw heavy usage of pearls, emeralds and ruby. Miss India Universe Ushoshi Sengupta was the show stopper with the title crown she won perched on top. The Malaga line-up consisted of jewellery, handbags and clutches. Use of Koodiyattam and Mughal inspired characters on the handbags was good.
Nivedita Saboo, inspired by the Moroccan culture, showcased a range called Marrakesh Mystics. Biscuit, orange and pink were the colors most used. Gradients also saw usage on some garments. Silk was used in the men’s kurtas. An embellished collared red kurta with a deep neck line with churidars was the best of the lot. Raveena Tandon, though looked as pretty as always, wasn’t too impressive in the show stopper dress and seemed little out of the ordinary.
Vikram Phadnis emerged as the designer with the most credible collection through the three days. Inspired by Umrao Jaan and Mughal-E-Azam, the designs used brocade, velvet and zardozi too lend a very nawabi charm to the collection. Dupattas pinned from the hair buns, black velvet Nehru caps and similar head gear along with colors like deep shades of orange, purple, yellow, green, blue and red added to the royal collection. For the ladies, the phrase “showcased at the India Bridal Week” should be enough. The men, get yourself the white sherwani with silver brocade work and dazzling embroidered brooch like design across the chest. It was unfortunate that Malaika Arora-Khan couldn’t make it as the show stopper or else temperatures would’ve surely risen on the ramp.
Day 3
The violet evening dress with a slit on the side and the footwear worn with the kurta and leggings (which presumably can be worn as a dress as well) were the only notable pieces in Seema Singh’s collection. The second last piece showcased with bejeweled leggings inside the net gown just made my eye brows raise in horror.
Jodhpuri pants, bandhgalas and western formals formed Deepak Shah’s showcase. Wish I could pull off the orange linen jacket. A tux with subtle print on the velvet lapels would be a good addition to the wardrobe. The handmade leather shoes of varying hues and colors added a nice contrast to the wear. Sandeep Soparkarr wore a lovely sherwani but had a bad pair of jootis on. Though he was the show stopper, Jackie Shroff stole the limelight by over acting and being over media friendly when Deepak came onto the ramp. And what the hell was Jackie wearing? A black lace frill shirt with white flare pants (hoping that they weren’t from Deepak’s collection)!
Nandita Mehtani doesn’t deserve much of a mention. Sequin sheeting, dye patterns, beads on georgette and chiffon. That makes up most of her holiday/resort wear. Nothing too impressive at all.
Rocky S saw a jam packed crowd. Lehengas, saris and sherwanis. The dhoti pants paired with the sherwanis looked good. Pure black sherwanis with brocade work looked gorgeous and so did the layered net gown with razor cut ends. The back lines of the dresses were paid a close attention. The white lehenga did look dazzling under the spotlight and might good for standing out in the crowd, but the design wasn’t impressive.
Verdict
As mentioned earlier, the people behind PFW have done good this time and seems like Pune will finally have a good property to showcase fashion and as Rocky S said, soon Punekars needn’t go to Mumbai to shop.
However, a fashion show is called a show for a reason. For someone at the front row, a lot more is visible than meets the general eye. Frayed materials, tacky zips, loose embellishments. There’s a lot more to come across in the minute details.
