Starting with a black ruffled long skirt worn over pants and a dramatic blouse for the lady, he nearly replicated it for the man and set the mood for what to expect. The prints revolved around three stories – geometric abstract, smudgy blotches and micro checks that resembled hounds tooth in sombre shades of brown, white, black, grey and beige. There was fluid volume for all the garments irrespective of the gender of the wearer. Women’s wear had a geometric butterfly blouse, long tubes with front ruffles, white puckered sleeve shirt, black draped and tiered dress, zuaves which were worn with long sleeve blouses, an all-in-one hooded micro checked grey dress, full balloon pants and ended with a white pleated satin gown.

Men’s wear included draped capris, dhoti pants and space age shirts, printed lungis with shirt, full salwars with intricately designed tunics. The use of the abstract print for most garments was interesting but where Arjun needs to pay more attention is to the finishing of hemlines that went slightly unbalanced and critically edit his collection. Showing an unconventional pant for women’s wear and then a few entries later on a male model can be a bit boring. Also less is always better than more, so a show should end with the audience asking “why” instead of “when”? As a collection it had a lot of detailing at times too much on a single garment but the design sensibilities of Arjun Saluja are so strong that the wearer needs to be on the same wave length too.

That is exactly what Manish Malhotra did with his bridal line for men and woman which was shown at the Kolkata Fashion Week earlier this month and seven days later at the Lakme Fashion Week. There was all the opulence, glitz and glamour that Indians love when they shop for bridal wear and Manish did not disappoint.

Men’s wear had brocade sherwanis, bundgalas, and chikankari kurtas, teamed with Pakistani or Patiala salwars or cowl pants in deep colours like cobalt, burgundy, old rose, grey, cream, olive and fawn. Ivory red, oyster, olive, beige was the women’s wear colours for net, organza, velvet and chanderi. When it came to a bride’s trousseau it was a presentation of grandeur as layered circular panelled skirts with tiny cholis and glittering net shrugs or dupattas glided down the ramp. Kurtas had multi kalis and broad orange hems, lehengas were magnificently drenched in gold zardozi, while the saris were dazzling with silver and CRYSTALLIZED^TM Swarovski Elements on the edges. In fact the women’s wear was so high on bling that there was no doubt that it was bridal wear in all its opulent glory.

Manish Malhotra is a favourite bridal trousseau designer who has created some of the most outstanding collections for the global Indian weddings. If he stays faithful to his genre in which he scores, he is indeed a sensible and wise designer since this collection also evoked sighs of desire from many of the ladies in the audience who wanted to walk down the aisle irrespective of other formalities and details.

His cool summer wear for both sexes was inspired from his childhood dreams of fantasy and imaginary genies, pirates, magicians, sorcerers, warriors and demi gods. His colour scheme was soft and pastel with grey, ash, brown, green, yellow, dark, purple, white, lavender, pink and black which made the colour blocked kurtas and angarkhas come alive with leaf prints. Embellishments were restricted to pocket detailing and wrap around back tie-ups that featured often in various parts of the garments. There were light summer comfortable ensembles like the white cotton satin asymmetric shirt with black buttons, grey tie-up shirt with black piping, pleated kurta with slit sleeves, angarkhas with sleeve flaps, wrap around kurta kaftan, cotton satin shirt with kora silk yoke and wrap shirts.

All the top wear was teamed with either slim fit trousers, Patiala salwars, churidars or churi trousers. The soft pastel colour palette was often used in contrast to line or pipe collars, pockets, yokes and cuffs or just in abstract blocks to add construction details. There was an almost Zen like Buddhist touch to the garments and were ideal options for summer. Digvijay Singh has been steadily promoting ecofriendly fabrics and has now got a loyal following which was evident from the enthusiastic response from the audience.

This set the mood for the rest of the collection which was in perfect summer fabrics, earthy colours and discreet prints in the best silks and cottons. Unlined jackets, long and short waistcoats, kurtas and crushed cotton shirts were all teamed with elasticized shimmering or matte pyjamas or cropped capris some with slits at the hem and with intricate embroidery. The collection looked ideal for a fashion hermit who wants to relax in uncluttered silhouettes that spell only comfort.

The final line of garments were a little more opulent as olive shimmering sherwani, short sleeve textured knee length covers, bronze gold sherwani and one with almost tonal abstract print proved that Krishna had not totally forsaken the world of glitz and glamour. While the collection was perfect in all respects – fabrics, colours, designs and silhouettes (a little repetitive at times) and will fly off the racks for Krishna Mehta; it was a pity that its ramp value was too subtle to be appreciated even under the spot light unless one went really close.

While most designers showed skinny trousers this duo preferred loose silhouettes that almost resembled sailor pants or patio trousers. Fabrics were mainly wool, canvas, flannel, and even plastic and leather. Their latest addition the “shield” over jackets and shirts was a male mini sleeveless jacket which is padded and appears bullet proof.

But it was the second part of organic clothes with Ayurvedic treatment that was very interesting. Called Ayurganic, the unisex clothes not only shield the wearer from harmful chemicals but also help to release toxins and enhance the metabolism and relax the person. This fabric treatment is given with herbs and will not diminish even after several washes. The designers wanted to declare that they are as concerned about the wellness of the buyers as they are about the creativity of their collection. The seven garments were very loose almost spririual in appearance with tunics, drawstring trousers, long robes, kimonos and comfortable tops.

The final line was very commercial and catered to the tastes of the Indian buyers. Aimed at both men and women the look for the former was totally western with jumpsuits, trench coats, biker jackets, flannel suits, tuxedos and camouflage jacket shimmering with beads and sequins. For the ladies it was festive wear as black chiffon sari toga gown, embroidered deep back dress, some ornate options and a chiffon and tulle dress with waist coat were all teamed with tights or churidars.

It was quite evident that Lecoanet Hemant with their international styling background were now wooing the Indian women with some glitzy garments and the men with European styling.

While her garments were the focal point, one detailing which she was partial to was, the zipper which she not only used to hold the outfit in one piece but also as an embellishment. So it appeared on rompers with graphic detailing or on scrunched summer jackets with a skirt. At other times the zipper was very prominent on a collared linen shirt dress with cutwork, or on the raised neck printed shirt. It appeared artistically on pockets, backs of jackets and in places where you would not expect a zipper to be. But the use of laser cutwork was truly beautiful especially when it was on a scrunched halter top with a wrap skirt or on a knotted crumpled halter top with a mini. The one shoulder wrap was a dream with the cutwork detailing. Besides these interesting touches there were garments like the lapel neckline, textured shift layered with a waist coat and the colour blocked dress with caviar print, a hooded draped silk jersey top was teamed with cropped pants and would be ideal for afternoon soirees while the stunning back cowl, silk jersey, orange wrap dress was ideal for the society diva. It was a collection that was perfect for the western wearer though she would need a perfect 10 figure to do justice to the silhouettes and styles.