Lakme Fashion Week - Winter Festive 2012 - Color Trends - Blue

Blue seems to be all prevalent in the coming season, if the recent shows are any indication. Many collections at the Lakme Fashion Week featured numerous different shades of the color, from sky to teal to indigo, blue was making its presence felt in most of the runway shows. Whether used with other colors, as the pre-dominent color, or as a trimming, blue is just making a comeback, and it seems likely that the color will be seen in many highly visible autumn wardrobes. Aniket Satam, the talented GenNext designer used cobalt and ink, splashed on sensuous viscose georgette, cotton jersey, raw silk and velvet, in his collection "Aarambh" (Beginning).

Anita Dongre's glamourous "Urban Goddess" collection had some stunning outfits in the preferred color of the season, while Debarun chose the colour blue as a constant for his creations as well as added beige and black for the base, to give depth to his creativity.

I am personally a big fan of Blue, and I do feel that the color works well in Indian designs and silhouettes. So while the Mumbai skies stay stubbornly grey, there is, after all, some cheerful blue to drive away the seasonal blues...

Winter Festive Color Trends - Yellow on the runway

Color always spells joy for me, whether it's in interiors, or fashion. I actively seek bright colors, and unabashedly use them as mood-lifters on Mondays and other days when things are not going too well. One of my all time, all seasons go-to color is Yellow. I love all shades of it, and I am fortunate to have a brown skin-tone that actually goes well with this color. So, it was surely a delight to see a more than generous sprinkling of yellow in the recently concluded Lakme Fashion Week Winter Festive 2012. This bright and playful hue will be a big scorcher this season. Full of warm vitality, yellow made an appearance in just about every other show at the fashion week. Bold and brave in edgy outfits, finding a perfect companion in black, or lending an audacious streak to an otherwise subdued outfit, yellow spoke out loud on every day of the Fashion Week. From pale yellow to bright lemon – yellow is the color for those who don't feel particularly mellow this season. Among the designers who made some fabulous use of one of my favorite colors is Deepika Govind who sent some spirited interpretations of the color down the runway.

Ken Fernandes adorned his yellows with Rorschach inkblot test-like patterns, giving them a dark and elegant twist.

Prashant Chauhan and Tanya Sharma blended two of the season's prominent trends - yellow and sheer to create some glamour-infused high fashion designs.

Mayank Anand, Pia Pauro, Payal Khandwala, and Sailex make just a few names in the list of designers who played with yellow in the upcoming season's collections.

It's such a delight that this sunny hue is getting its due, and how! And with yellow around, Orange too promises to stick around a little more. Orange and yellow usually make an appearance together. For more trend updates and fashion week collection reviews, please join my facebook page www.facebook.com/shotcouture.

Lakme Fashion Week Winter Festive 2012 Preview - Rohan Arora

Okay, so let me get the bad news out of the way first. between my last post on his collection, and this preview, the super cute designer, Rohan Arora, got married! Considering his female fan following, and the immensely prolific designer's well-acknowledged talent, there must have been quite a few hearts broken. But there is good news yet, ladies. The man seems to have found his Muse, because he floors us yet again with a quirky, fascinating take on fashion footwear. And this time, he is irreverent, as usual, but with an unusual take that will have to laughing all the way from a bad hair day to a fabulous shoes day! Yup, you heard me. I have always believed that drop-dead awesome shoes are a perfect foil to a bad hair day. And Rohan's upcoming collection at the Lakme Fashion Week Winter Festive 2012, inspired by Indian Cinema's "Item Girls" and "Item Boys" promises to have people looking at your feet, all day long! "Item Songs" in Indian cinema are song and dance numbers introduced in a movie, to up the entertainment quotient of a film, and bring in more audience. these glamourous, high energy dances often become the highlight of the film, with the dancers even stealing the limelight from the actual leads of the story! And Rohan's shoes might be conspiring to do just that. I love the way this man thinks! I mean, everyone talks rhetoric when it comes to collection inspirations. Rohan gets funny and well, quite off the mark, in a very very nice way. He belongs to that new league of designer, who thankfully never had a decent one-on-one conversation with the mundane and the conventional. The "Item Collection", by Rohan Arora plays with exotic colours, intricate traditional embroidery and unconventional silhouettes, and includes a mix of varied materials like brocade,pure satin, sheep skin, pure silk and handwoven khadi. Unusual shoes from an unconventional designer, that surprisingly, hold well with a wedding trousseau as well as casual pair of shirt and denims. I can't stop gawking since I found these images in my inbox! Drool with me. Can't wait to see these at the show!

Lakme Fashion Week Winter Festive 2012 - Preview - Atithi Gupta

You wouldn’t believe the weather in Mumbai. The Sun, it seems, has gone on a vacation. It’s grey and Monsoon clouds are looming, but little to no rain. Mumbai, my friends, could do with some festive cheer. And we are now just a week away from an ample dose of just what the doctor ordered, the Lakme Fashion Week Winter festive 2012, is almost here! The line-up and the schedule is up on the website, and I am all geared up for the shows. Here, in Shotcouture, like ever season, I am doing a set of previews from the collections of the designers showing at Lakme, some new, some old favorites. And one name that has found iself on the pages of Shotcouture, season after season, is the versatile Atithi Gupta. Having made her debut as a Gen-next designer at the Lakme Fashion Week Fall/Winter 2009, Atithi has returned to the Lakme Fashion Week several times, everytime showcasing a collection that inspires and amazes. Her upcoming collection, titled ‘Azul’ a Spanish word, which means "blue" , concentrates more on feminine, minimalistic, wearable wear in a colour palette of strong blues, pastel powdery purples to greys and blacks. Atithi returns to the Lakme Runway with a collection that plays with georgettes, wrinkled crepe, chiffons and cotton silks, fabrics that create movement for strong woman. Every outfit is adorned with details of fine pleats, with tops, jumpsuits, and dresses suitable for both day and night wear. The collection is designed to adorn and follow the movements of the body, communicating through both form and feeling. I find Atithi’s designs very contemporary, with a subtle underlining of modern day romance. Even in this dull Mumbai weather, they evoke memories of moonlit nights and sunshine filled mornings. For now, I am leaving you to grab a quick cup of late afternoon coffee, but not before posting a couple of pictures from Atithi’s upcoming collection.

Lakme fashion Week Winter Festive 2012 Preview - Vaishali Shadangule

If her previous collections are anything to go by, it’s anybody’s guess that Vaishali Shadangule’s young fashion label is a power house of talent and creativity. Her contemporary designs crafted from Indian hand woven textiles have brought her into the style file of the discerning Indian Fashionistas. Her clothing line is a delightful and contemporary mix of traditional Indian wear, Indo-western and western wear. For her collection at the upcoming Lakme Fashion Week, Vaishali finds her muse in Colors of Indian Festivals! Her collection, titled “Reverb” is an all out celebration of the Colors of Indian Festivals. It encapsulates the joy that is an integral part of the Indian cultural fabric, weaving together the many diversities found in the country’s many regions. Going beyond creating designs that fuse many influences, Vaishali is creating silhouettes that play with the form, while retaining the authenticity of their origin through conventional drapes and cuts of traditional garments. Using Indian textiles like silk, chanderi, organza, brocade, and khand with colours like blue, red, white and gold, she seeks to capture the true spirit of life’s most vivid celebrations. All these fabrics have a very strong and deep association with celebrations and festivals and set the correct look for the collection. The garments are embellished with red, blue and gold flowers to give a feeling of celebration. Vaishali hopes that the progression and variation of layers and contrast featured in her collection will grow on its audience.

Weekends filled with Love and Life

So how is your weekend going? Is it bring spent with family, friends or at work (ugh!)? I hope you are having a fabulous time, though, and not working. Husband came home after about ten days of work related traveling, so I am really excited about spending quality time with him. Also, that means I can cook and cook and cook, and have someone to share those meals with. Weekend cooking is among the most relaxing activities for me. And so is shopping! The weather in Mumbai continues to be wet and humid, so all my Cold Tea Arsenal is out most evenings. Nothing beats the persistent Monsoon Blues better than a tall, cold glass of fruit infusion or green tea! Catching up with the husband, there is so much to talk about! He travelled across three very different cities, and has so many stories to tell. Speaking of stories, this post is about a weekend "Yummy Yatra" (Journey for Taste)that I went on in the first week of July, along with some fellow foodies from Mumbai. This was an event sponsored by Zomato.com, one of the fastest growing restaurant review sites in the country. The group of foodies, who call themselves Pet Pujaris (Stomach worshipers)are the most fun people I have met in some time. I always believe that foodies might not be best of friends with the weighing scales, but have ample friends to boast of otherwise. The same goes for Pet Pujaris. Not a sad, forlorn soul there! You can check out their Facebook page HERE.

So with Pet Pujaris I traveled to Pune, sampling food at six different places in just two days! Believe me, there was a lot of eating involved. Sharing with you some of the foods we foodies shared over that weekend!

Here is wishing you a great week ahead. Am busy designing more and more accessories for the collection. Will be posting those soon. Between designing, cooking, writing and traveling, my days are kind of full. And that's just the way I want them to be. Please share with me your weekend trysts with life and love.

Hugs, Prati All Food Photographs, courtesy Pet Pujaris on Facebook.

Back to Bandagi

One more week gone, and boy, I had a hectic weekend! I slept for just about 3-4 hours over the last three days. I started work on the next collection of Bandagi, my own accessories line. Bandagi means Worship! I have made some pretty headbands and hair pins, and am now moving on to some more accessories. It has been exhilarating and exhausting. Sunday was for friends, at the Saltwater Cafe in Mumbai. Excellent food. Great company. My breakfast project is going strong. Please check the link above for details and recipes can be found on my other blog : www.lifein2suitcases.com How is your week going? I am gearing up for the Lakme Fashion Week, scheduled for August. This will be a busy month. But I'd rather wear out than rust out. What do you do to relax when life is on a fast track?