Shantanu & Nikhil's women's couture collection The last Walk was all about a woman constantly redefining herself. S Mallik reports
A model gracefully walked down the wooden ramp in a white corset off-shoulder top, with a flowy white bottom — flared, layered and frilled. It was one of those dresses that a would-be-bride would love to wear on her big day. But no, that was not a wedding dress but one of the many designs that Kolkata-based designer duo Shantanu & Nikhil rolled out on the ramp of the FDCI India Fashion Week 2016, Autumn/Winter.
The theme for their collection was all about a woman redefining herself, very aptly titled The last Walk. It was an amalgamation of fluidity and the innate Indian structure. It was the signature of Shantanu & Nikhil that was embodied in the entire collection.
“The only thing we did was to play around with the emotion, which led to the women rediscovering her existence, where she takes every steps of her journey in her life till the end, because she knows that she will be reborn the next day. It’s all about the women of today,” the designers explained adding that the line was also about how to not be controlled by emotions.
Needless to say that the collection brought back a lot of drapes — something that the duo loves to play, experiment and incorporate plenty in their works. “Yes, there were a few drapes that we worked with wherein we have brought in the old school saree. There was also a certain Graeco-Roman feel to the line, too,” the designer-duo pointed out.
What we loved about their collection was the colour palette. From the eye soothing white and beige to the fiery red — the designers made a point by using colours that are demure — much like the characters of the woman they wanted to portray. “The collection was transient through many colours of life. The woman has been the calmness of the beiges, the fiercest red and the warmest grey,” they concluded.
All photos: Pankaj Kumar