When designers love women, the fabric listens. Every stitch turns tender, every silhouette feels like a memory of grace. At Lakme Fashion Week in partnership with FDCI, that love took form in quiet strength where clothes spoke of women as muses and makers, shaping legacy with every weave. Beauty, crafted with care, seemed less a garment and more a way of being.
The week opened as a tribute to craftsmanship. Anavila, Akaaro, and The Edit by The Kunj, supported by DC Handicrafts under the Ministry of Textiles, celebrated linen, lace, pashmina, and ikat. Anavila Mishra's Sarmast evoked stillness through soft linen and satin appliqué inspired by Wajd, the quiet ecstasy of surrender. Gaurav Jai Gupta's Starlight transformed handloom into light geometry, metallic threads shimmering like fragments of night. Purpose accompanied beauty. Industry leaders called it "a dialogue between preservation and reinvention," reminding that fashion is continuity, not nostalgia.
Aseem Kapoor's Akaar turned the Peruvian desert into a spiritual map. Nazca Lines appeared as embroidery, earth meeting air in fabric form. Colours terracotta, sand, indigo felt ancient yet intimate, grounding the collection. Amit Hansraj's Inca layered organza, raffia, and brocade in serene shades, showing heritage as something to be lived daily.
Satya Paul introduced a co-creative vision. The Night Garden bloomed in floral silks and moonlit hues, bridging legacy with lightness. Abraham and Thakore concluded with Warp and Weft, a minimalist dialogue between structure and ease. Ajay Kumar's The Wild Monarch roared with mythic print across silk kurtas and jackets. An Ode to Hokusai drew from waves and wool, crafting a new textile blending Kullu wool with
indigo dye. Label Rahul Dasgupta's Co-existence balanced contrast, denim with organza, shibori with shimmer, signalling harmony between strength and softness. Samant Chauhan's First Breath shimmered with architectural discipline, gowns in Bhagalpur silk and Swarovski embroidery containing light like moonlit marble. Tarun Tahiliani's Tasva offered festive menswear steeped in refinement, jacquards, zardozi, pearls, and mirrorwork.
Then came a delightful surprise. Aayush Mehra, Chef Ranveer Brar, and Suvir Saran stepped onto the fashion stage, embodying style themselves. Their presence, a fusion of culinary mastery and sartorial elegance, became an unexpected highlight, reminding everyone that creativity, whether in kitchen or couture, shares the same flair for performance and presentation.
Arjan Dugal's menswear revisited classic luxury while Siddhartha Bansal's Paradise City drifted into dream, pastel organzas with tiny beaded flowers and whisper-light pouches. Morning brought a luminous ode to Assam, where music intertwined with memory. Silhouettes layered with subtle shimmer, precise yet confident, filled the runway. One wonders-what makes art truly unforgettable, the creation, or the love behind it.
