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 - Gen Next Preview

The Lakme Fashion Week Winter Festive 2012 is back! Scheduled from 3rd August to 7th August, the fashion extravaganza is definitely a first ranker on every fashion high flyer’s To-Do List for the year. One key aspect of this Fashion Week is the consistent focus on scouting for and promoting fresh and upcoming talent. This year too, Winter/ Festive 2012 will see 7 Gen Next, 15 Emerging and 3 Accessory designers showcasing their collections.

And the budding designers who will be exhibiting theIr collections at the much awaited extravaganza have their task cut out for them. For in the past, the Gen Next Collection has thrown up some massive talent. Quirky sensibilities have flirted with practical aesthetics in collections and designs that have made the critics sit up and take notice of the young designers who have given this opportunity their very best shot. It’s no mean guess then, that the entire lot of Gen Next Designers for this season are currently busy getting ready for their Big Day. Two of the uber-talented designers, Tanya Sharma and Prashant Chauhan took a quick, brief breather from their back-breaking schedule to give Shotcouture a quick update on their upcoming collections. Tanya’s collection for GaGa, her own fashion label, will be a unique streetwear interpretation of the classic achkan and the tuxedo. Her silhouettes are a mix of menswear, clubbed with the traditional Indian wear. Designs like the tuxedo sari, the achkan kaftan seek to redefine the conservative achkan and tuxedo look into a transcendental space more reminiscent of contemporary aesthetics. She has highlighted the Indian aspect of her designs through the use of Indian fabrics and embroideries like silk ikat, net chikankari embroidery, georgette with vintage kasab and sequins embroidery. The colors palette for this very intense and modern collection includes mustard, royal blue, peach and a generous streak of fluorescent pink. Prashant’s collection takes its inspirations from the verdant and picturesque Valley of Flowers in Uttarakhand, India. His inspiration comes from a celebration of the air of silent mystery that surrounds the valley. He seeks to capture the essence of Nature through details, prints and decorations inspired by the Valley’s stunning fauna. Upbeat, modern signature pieces celebrate a woman, who like the valley, embodies a formidable Force Of Nature. Prashant’s collection uses the vast canvas of valley’s flowers for color inspiration. He has experimented with bold, vibrant and playful combinations that enhance the glamorous appeal of the designs, and at the same time infuse them with an untouched innocence. The collection uses natural fibres like hemp, soya, ramie and flex, and seeks to turn these natural fibres into timeless pieces of art.

If these two young designers are anything to go by, this season too, the Gen Next Show promises to be an event to look forward too. It is always a treat and a delight to see a new generation of designers reinterpret the existing trends and give them new dimensions.