Designers show satirical streak at Lakme Fashion Week 2019

Mrunal Thakur walked the ramp for designer Alka Sharma at the Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2019. Pic/Yogen Shah

Up-and-coming fashion designers used satire as a method to the creative madness in their latest collections, calling for more social awareness among the masses. Sahib Dang and Sunayana Sahni of Esse and Anurag Gupta presented their latest collections at the 20th edition of the Lakme Fashion Week Winter/Festive 2019 on Saturday. Esse launched their line, titled 'Isn't it ironic', which was a extension of the label's pre-fall collection, called 'Why so offended'.

The show opened with acrobatic dancer Chow En Lai Phukan's mesmerising performance in high heels on the unplugged cover of The Police's hit "Roxanne".

Sahib said the concept behind performance was that the heels were created primarily for men in the 18th century. "Over the years, women took them over," he told reporters. Chow said he made sure what he delivered was not merely dance. "I wanted to create a vibe here that the moment I look at the audience they should feel uncomfortable that they understand that we are not there in a space where we accept things.

"I started as a performer but when I ended, in my head, the performance had transformed into a beautiful movie," the former "Dance India Dance" contestant said. Sahib said the main aim of the show was to bring social awareness.

"It's a satire on the existing social order and how people perceive things. Our aim is to connect with audience. Everyone is aware of the social issues but nobody is ready to talk or do about it. We want people to know more about their surroundings," he added.

The fabrics used in the range were textured denim, organza, tulle, camo prints and 3D thread work like Dabka. Monochrome tones dominated the show but shades of mustard, olive green, powder blue and rust were also spotted. Anurag's collection, "A True Story" drew inspiration from a novel of the same name, written by Syrian satarist Lusian of Samusata in second century AD.

The book is regarded as a tongue-in-cheek satire against authors who tell incredible tales. Some consider the novel as the earliest known work of science fiction.

The designer said as a brand they are often influenced by paintings and art works, adding all the narratives in the novel's story are depicted in the form of embroidery, knits and layers in the collection.

"We also tried to revive a 12th century technique, called bobbin lace technique to finish our edges instead of cutting and stitching. We collaborated with Numero Uno as an initiative to define our brand's philosophy to recycle and reuse to create new look," he said.

"We used old stock unused denims to create new jackets and trousers, etc," he added.

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