Cutouts and whites ruled the ramp as fashion designer Anupama Dayal recreated her magic on day one of Amazon India Fashion Week-Autumn Winter 2018. Taking inspiration from Lucknow, the designer carefully added the craft and culture of the historical city but tweaked the ancient look according to the modern times.
After the ramp show, Dayal said, "The collection is inspired by a visit to Lucknow. I fell in love with the city, its craft and culture. Everything about Lucknow is historical but as a designer, it is so beautiful and perfect as it is. Through my work, I have tried to tweak the inspiration according to the modern times for my women, who will wear it more easily."
Unlike other designers who generally get inspired by the chikankari work, Dayal through her collection has openly experimented with androgynous motifs. She said the idea was to bring out something unique as well as bold. "Normally, we see Lucknow chikankari, shins and florals but I, on the other hand, brought the aggression of the sword in a more androgynous motifs like swords, daggers, large kites and large roses. I played down the aggression of the sword through use of very pale colours," she adds.
Designer Anupama Dayal
Though Anupama's signature style focuses on adding ample colour to the outfits, in this collection, she has not shied away from playing with whites. "There was a lot of lilac, lavender and white. Whites must have been very unexpected from me but I filled up the craving for colour. With the whites, I tried to keep the feel very comfortable. Since the brand sells in cities and the collection is available in most resort destinations across the world, I chose to keep the outfits transparent so as to keep them light for the sea and sand," she adds.
She used simple silhouettes by devoting ample emphasis on the necklines. Describing the silhouettes, Dayal says "There are a lot of cutouts on the waist. In India, women are really confident of showing their midriff as they wear sarees comfortably. In other countries, women really hesitate to show their abs. Necklines are often on one side—there is something on one side and nothing on the other side. So they are asymmetric. A lot of emphasis has been given so as to use the collar bones of women. I feel Indian women have really beautiful collar bones."
On asking what trends will rule the coming season, Dayal says whites, frills and ruffles will be hot sellers. "Ruffles are new to me because I refrain from using them. This time, however, I have added them in a subtle manner. Besides this, a certain kind of composition of colours such as pink and red together or lavender with cream, which even from me thanks to my mad use of colours is still unexpected."