WIFW kicks off with Kutch-inspired theme - The Times of India
October 07, 2012
The spring-summer edition of Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week (WIFW) kick
started here Saturday with an India flavour - a Kutch-inspired show by debutant Payal, wife of designer Rajesh Pratap Singh, and a sari-laden line by Anand Kabra.
Payal impressed with her Bohemian collection, which had a heavy influence from Gujarat's Kutch region.
"I thought this is the right time to come into the mainstream and present my collection in front of patrons of the fashion world. Both me and Rajesh are doing separate shows, so the exchange of suggestions were little less but yes support was there," Payal said.
The 39-year-old is an alumnus of the capital's National Institute of Fashion Technology (NIFT), where her husband was her batchmate. Professionally, she joined Rajesh in 1998 as an assistant, and has been married to him for 15 years.
Her collection, titled "Gates of Dawn", which was showcased on the opening day of WIFW here Saturday, was dominated by use of bright colours in light weight fabrics, marked by extensive use of minute geometric, cross stich and hand detailing.
"I am working only on Indian market with lots of Indian clothes - saris , kurtas combined with lot of modern style draping and pleating. I have used urban western style my collection because I wanted to show it in a very modern way on ramp," she said.
She found inspiration for the line from Gujarat's Kutch desert. The clothes had handwoven textiles with chanderis and moga silk.
She teamed her attires with village ornaments contemporised into toe-rings and ankle slippers with clusters of antique chains.
"The accesories I used were the regular stuf going in complete sync with the garments. I used kolhapuri chappals and sandals, that depicted the rural India," she said.
Payal shared the show with designer Anand Kabra, who showcased a line titled Taramati. He used fabrics like malkha, cotton, lightweight silk, georgette, chiffon and crepe.
Known for his sari designs, he used a lot of gold with royal blue, ivory and white, kohl black and alta red.
"I have used draping style tremendously. The collection was very challenging
for me as I took a theme like this," said Kabra.
"Nude and simple colours are what we were looking at and since its the spring summer collection, we wanted it to be minimal," he added.
Overall, the first show saw the presence of names like Krishna Somani, designers Kavita Bhartia, Abraham and Thakore and actor Rahul Dev.
