I was more than happy on the last day that fashion week was over, it ended with the king of festive fashion, Manish Malhotra. His front row, here is where I start to name drop, in the order they were sitting. Deepika Padukone, Amrita Arora, Karishma Kapoor, Imran Khan, Avantika Khan, Karan Johar and Neha Dhupia. Whoa, Quite the line up! oh, lets not forget the show stopper Kareena Kapoor.

At the end of his show, the models and some of the audience got on the ramp and started dancing to “get on the floor”. Some or rather one audience member got up on ramp a bit weary at first and then starting busting the moves, lets just say she/he was a bit awkward! But this post is not about the stars or ramp shenanigans but rather about the two designers that stood out the most for being true to their fashion, Manish Malhotra and Wendell Rodericks.

Manish Malhotra

Manish really surprised us this time with a collection that pushed his traditional indian wear boundaries. His accentuated shoulders, almost Judy Jetson like were seen on cholis and long jackets. Even Kareena Kapoor’s  gown had a slight winged shoulder. Apart from that, the collection was bi polar, in a good sense with regards to the colour palette, almost light vs dark. My favourite outfits were the lightest of ivorys put together with a punch of tangerine, rani pink and purple. One in particular being the Sari with bright organge/pink petticoat and vintage rose net pallu with silver sequins (that I’m dying to have.) The rest in true Manish style was about long anarkali style salwars and  lehengas, I wonder how heavy each outfit is, those poor skinny models how did they manage?

Wendell Rodricks

Since it was sponsored by Himalayan water, they couldn’t have picked a better designer to depict purity and a return to nature than Wendell Rodricks. HIs collection was filled with floaty satins, rippled georgettes all done in soothing tans, blues and sometimes a hit of fuchsia. I”m not big on concept sari’s but his I love. especially since they were done in a pleated gorget fabric that gave the sari a whole new movement. Sequins were used sparingly which gave emphasis to his bias cut garments. I love the coat that suddenly turned into a dress with a trail. It’s these subtle transformations in the collection along with his fluid layering that made for a refreshing collection.