Dramatic Dressing by Kavita Bhartia

Kavita Bhatia revived a feeling of Woodstock and the hippie era when she presented her collection for Spring/Summer 2009. The colour palette had elegantly subdued warm hues ranging from chocolate to mustard, rust, navy blue, forest green and wine. Fabrics such as satin, georgettes and crepes showed body and were embellished with stylish concoction of cross-cultural print motifs and techniques. Typical structural elements such as fringes, a tiered skirts, frills, panels, layers and border prints were used to create a collection which clearly spoke of a refined and elegant bohemian chic. Her collection showed interesting combinations like dresses with mini waistcoats and scarves worn over tight fitted tops as well as wrap pants. Others such as tunic blouses with emphasized empire line along with pleated front and back created an interesting mix of silhouettes on the ramp.

Nitin Bal Chauhan Wears Attitude on His Sleeves

Nitin Bal Chauhan's linear expression of an evergreen winning combination of black and ivory white can be described in a single word "Superlative". Cords intertwined to create motifs, pleating, knotting, layered patchwork were proportionate and had worked to the advantage of the creation. Floor length, pencil skirts, fitted above the knee length dress, short weave jackets, long and short tops were in eclectic colour combinations of muted pink and dull teal with a hint of surprise elements, apart from the classic black and white. Controlled graphic print, which looked like brush spray print, striped and all over batik effect is fused with, gathers and loops and blended into the concept. While the fabrics appeared very matt, one could not miss the metallic glitter that gave the cloth a very serious appeal. The wearer would have to carry off this wonderful collection with an air of confidence and an attitude of personal style.

Shantanu and Nikhil's Perfect Amalgamation

Shantanu & Nikhil's collection 'Serenity' drew inspiration from Ladakh, finely balancing the stark, harsh, unforgiving mountainous region with the innocence of its people.

Digital prints, asymmetric drapes in pristine white in the first line led into intricate surface textures using quilting, cording and zipper embellishments towards the end. High quality tailoring and technical finesse was evident in the collection with the use of undulating ruching, pleating and ruffles. Honeycomb jackets are nicely paired with new slim fit trousers. The use of exaggerated tiered sleeves in the collection added drama to the show. Blue accents in trimmings reflected the clear blue waters of the great Pangong Lake. Marbled effects using surface ornamentation and hand paintings effectively showed off the terrain on knits, taffetas and silk jerseys.

Manoviraj Khosla's Macho Style

In his men's wear collection, 'Hugging the softness within masculinity'; Manoviraj Khosla presented a complete range of soft details, designed skillfully for the young male client. The designer has cleverly used great textures as patchwork, pleating, pin tucks, piping and French knots as detailing in a mixture of styles for men.

The range had cardigans, linen shirts, jackets and pleated details on pant pockets with surprising creative elements. There was innovative placement of Batik on lowers, cowled cardigan and shirts. The interesting use of construction details on trousers front and waist bands done with minimal use of colours attracted attention. Details offered in soft colour palette used in contrast combinations and other elements added lots of soft, yet bolder details for Spring/Summer 09 men's wear.

The lowers - pleated knit pants, churidars, three-fourth pants, denim zipper jackets with detailing done with rivets added element of modesty to masculinity. These were complimented with knit-shirt, denim coats, sky gray linen wrap shirt and off- white Nehru jacket. Not to ignore were the flame orange denim waistcoat with linen embroidered pants, white linen hooded jacket with orange knit hot pants, sleeveless lavender linen and shirtdress with purple knit chudi pants. It was a presentation that had delectable diversity in colour palette, cuts, surface embellishments and textures.