Designer Amit Aggarwal’s Lumen brought forth divergent concepts where East was fused with the West and the traditional with the modern, says Dhruvika Bhanot
The opening show of the India Couture Week was no less than a symphony. The ramp stood amidst bricked walls and under the illusion of a false-ceiling with large paper foldings that were hung fashionably. It represented the play of sunlight on ocean waves. With the rusticity of the room and the planned rawness of construction, which would otherwise stand out like a sore thumb in the normality of life, designer Amit Aggarwal drummed an anticipation for his collection that would eclipse the idea of the ‘usual’.
A careful engineering of what the new age bride wants where the characteristic inspiration was drawn from the nooks and corners of nature while remaining mindful towards sustainability, Aggarwal brought forth Lumen. The collection had traditional heritage wrapped into modernity.
The collection blended opaque colours with metallic tones and prismatic hues making each shade mirror a lavish flow of energy. The initial colour palette was a vibrant chorus of emerald, petrol, purple and plum moving into gold, silver blush and ivory with assorted fuse of neon tones.
The models ramped a paradoxical variety as the the ensembles revisited the Edwardian and Victorian eras while at the same time showcasing lehngas. It was like being present in the thick of east and west, but with an agreed tradition of dramatisation. The lehngas with metallic blouses, fashioned skirts, with elaborate and geometrical leaf prints, flared with ruffles on the hem. A perfect epitomisation of the Victorian era gowns, the sculpted bustles ( padded undergarment used to add fullness, or support the drapery, at the back of women's dresses ) lent an edge to ultimate Indian bride.
The sarees were designed to look ultra-modern and had the fallacy of a front-slit gown, but a long trail of drape over the shoulders grounded them to tradition. The prints of the ensemble were linear and had definite geometry while the leaves connected it to the theme of nature. The womenswear, augmented by sheer drapes and layers, conceived an illusion of colour through a subtle play of light. The collection, though weightless to give the bride freedom to dance the night away, was not devoid of the extravaganza of an Indian wedding.
Showstopper actor Kiara Advani draped in a red lehenga blended the orthodoxy of the colour with a modern twist of a plunging neckline embellished with a layered, green choker-necklace.
The menswear collection was all about sharp tailoring in classic styles. Violet, blue black metallic garments embroidered to fit the traditional Indian man that looks at futuristic ways of styling if the metallic pants were anything to go by.
If peaceful loggerheads could be put on the ramp, Aggarwals’ designs represented it with their amalgam of the traditional with the modern, while keeping the sanctity of the Indian wedding theatrics and the charisma of the Indian bride.
Photo: Pankaj Kumar