Vibrant colours, funky accessories, beach wear inspired by Christian art and actor Rana Daggubati were few of the highlights on the first day of the second edition of the India Beach Fashion Week. Rupinder Kaur reports from Goa
If not for health’s sake, then a pre-planned vacation by the seaside would definitely make many opt for gym memberships or yoga classes months in advance to get the perfect beach bod. After all, the insta pictures need to come out just perfect. How about smartening up your beachwear by adding a dash of the oomph factor with some sensuous designs and silhouettes on flowy and light fabricsIJ
Beachwear just got uber chic with designers like Manoviraj Khosla, Urvashi Kaur, James Ferreira, Asmita Marwa, et al. showcasing their spectacular collections on day 1 of Gionee India Beach Fashion Week season 2 at the lalit Golf and Spa Resort in Goa.
Bengaluru-based designer Manoviraj Khosla, with his pool-side party/show got us grooving the the beats of as the band Best Kept Secrets belted out tracks like Pretty Woman, Coldplay’s Sky Full of Stars, et al. The models sashayed in black sequined dresses, bold digital prints on clingy synthetic fabrics, micro minis, bikinis with vibrant sheer capes. His menswear line included velvet sherwanis and bandhgala jackets with motifs followed by khadi suits in shades of bright orange, acid green pink, red paired with funky handbags and chappals.
Designer Asmita Marwa’s collection Bindu, was a beautiful amalgamation of simplicity, comfort and elegance. Kerchief hemlines with rows of black tassels ending in a dramatic red bindu, gave the collection a unique identity, while the menswear collection revolved around harem pants and lungis worn with shirts sporting interesting calligraphy.
Her show-stopper was Bahubali star Rana Daggubati, who Marwa calls a “gorgeous guy”, dazzled as he strutted down the ramp in a lime green kurta with black harem pants and a black dupatta with tassels.
“The collection is inspired by the symbol bindu which for me is very powerful. It symbolises eternity, the starting point and infinity. I used it in a very different way and we did a lot of surface texturing. This collection is also perfect for the destination wedding and is a mix of both Indian and western,” Marwa shared after the show.
She worked with three colours — black, red and white on natural fabrics like khadi, voile, malmal and viscose. “They are my favourite colours and my whole wardrobe is black, white and red. Yes there are hints of lime green. They basically are the colours of celebration because there is purity in off-white, red again is pure and black, too, is also very powerful. It’s sustainable clothing, its simple and I’ve recycled material from my workplace,” she further added.
The iconic designer James Ferreira’s Byzindiantyne collection of 60 garments was inspired by his friend Paul Bhosale’s iconic Christian art. While the ladies walked down in the enticing hues of lime greens, orange, pink, ink blue on fabrics like raw silk, cotton, georgette, et al., the men’s collection was reserved to blacks and whites tunics and piped track pants with a hint of floral pattern.
“Black and white is so classic. Plus, the fabrics which I used looked nice in those two shades,” the ace designer told us.
Bhosale’s paintings have inspired the prints on Ferreira’s garments. “In fact, he worked with me for the prints. It is the first time I’m using the Japanese designer Issey Miyake printing so it was a big challenge to not make it not look like Issey Miyake which I think i managed and gave it the James Ferreira charm. My silhouettes were eclectic. I used the saree, ghaghra choli and everything possible which I mixed up together into one Indo-west madness,” he further shared.
The colours he worked with were also inspired from Bhosale’s paintings. Ferreira explained that fashion designers need to turn to other art forms for inspirations. “All art forms are related and fashion is a commercial art form so we have to go back to the other art forms to get the inspiration and to also educate people and ourselves. For me, it was self-educating and I learned about making prints because I never worked with digital prints before and it was fun,” he signed-off.