Best Moments from Lakmé Fashion Week Winter Festive 2016

Compiled by Sadaf Shaikh and Wyanet Vaz. Photographs by Prateek Patel, Sparsh Batra and Tushar Bhardwaj

From fashion shows in parking lots to toddlers on the ramp, we saw it all….

With the wedding season being a huge affair in the Indian market, Lakmé Fashion Week Winter Festive is undoubtedly one of the most anticipated fashion events.

This season, the unanticipated shift in venue for the opening show was quite a dampener. Tarun Tahiliani’s showcase, expected to be held at St. Xavier’s College was moved to the non-gothic, non-historic Main Stage Area at St.Regis. On another note, the life-size hemp sculpture inspired by the works of Mrinalini Mukherjee, made for a strong talking point.

Gen Next was one of the most watched shows, after all one can never forget how a Nachiket Barve or a Nikhil Thampi emerged from this very platform. While most of the fashion crowd was still hungover from the not-so-extravagant opening, Manish Malhotra’s show at the ITC Grand Central was a setting to bookmark. Machines spouted rose petals and the fancy setting around the hotel’s water fountain flooded our Instagram till the morning after.

Sustainable Fashion and Indian Textiles day saw a great showcase of design and weaves, especially from the northeastern states of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Sanjay Garg showcased his work in a parking lot to the wild rhythm of an all-drums percussion band which we thought was cool.

Sabyasachi’s grand finale at Mehboob Studio was complete with live music by the Symphony Orchestra of India, swaying chandeliers and stunning, glittering ensembles. The setting was pure, vintage grandeur — something we have come to expect from the designer.

We’re glad that despite the bridal theme, designers chose to do more than just create beautiful trousseau pieces. They tackled gender stereotypes (Payal Khandwala’s The New Emperor), pushed boundaries (Little Shilpa’s collection for plus-sized label aLL) and addressed global concerns through their work (Suhani Pittie’s Nowhere People).

We enjoyed being a part of these micro-revolutions and have put together our handpicked favourites from these five frenzied days.