Gen Next Dazzles At Lakme Fashion Week
- 8 years ago
Lakme's Gen Next shows are a beacon of the brand's unending hope for new talent. And sometimes there is a lucky find. Rahul Misra, a Gen Next discovery, has become a firm player in the fashion scene, known for his creativity, high standard, and his patronage of Indian textiles. FDCI too runs a High Five show series, for youngsters, and though there are glimpses of genius, the sustainability that fashion demands to remain a player in the marketplace is not always evident. So the search is on.
Three bright stars that shone on the ramp at Lakme Fashion Week, if all goes well, may make it to tomorrow's bestseller list in stores across the country. Two of these are from the North-east. Perhaps a longstanding tradition of home weaving and a borrowed edginess of stylish dressing make the North-eastern sensibility attuned to high fashion. The snag, however, has been sustainability, as the designers often live far removed from the metros. This is luckily not the case with both Asa Kazingmei and Sailex N.G., both of whom show unlimited potential.
Asa Kazingmei, a Gen Next designer, uses fabric like a blank canvas to create designs on. Working close to his roots, this young Manipur-based designer cut-draped and shaped shawls of the Tangkhul Naga tribe, who live in the Ukhrul district of the State, to dazzling effect. Indian weaves have variety and drama, and the shawls of the Nagas are known not just for their striking colours but for the vivid patterns woven into them, and each tribe has its individual design. Asa's debut collection on the ramp showed a maturity in his way with adapting the shawls into silhouettes. Weaves were positioned for maximum drama, the red of the shawls forming a brilliant jewelled backdrop for the woven and embroidered patterns that spoke of a long cultural history in cloth.
Three bright stars that shone on the ramp at Lakme Fashion Week, if all goes well, may make it to tomorrow's bestseller list in stores across the country. Two of these are from the North-east. Perhaps a longstanding tradition of home weaving and a borrowed edginess of stylish dressing make the North-eastern sensibility attuned to high fashion. The snag, however, has been sustainability, as the designers often live far removed from the metros. This is luckily not the case with both Asa Kazingmei and Sailex N.G., both of whom show unlimited potential.
Asa Kazingmei, a Gen Next designer, uses fabric like a blank canvas to create designs on. Working close to his roots, this young Manipur-based designer cut-draped and shaped shawls of the Tangkhul Naga tribe, who live in the Ukhrul district of the State, to dazzling effect. Indian weaves have variety and drama, and the shawls of the Nagas are known not just for their striking colours but for the vivid patterns woven into them, and each tribe has its individual design. Asa's debut collection on the ramp showed a maturity in his way with adapting the shawls into silhouettes. Weaves were positioned for maximum drama, the red of the shawls forming a brilliant jewelled backdrop for the woven and embroidered patterns that spoke of a long cultural history in cloth.