The master of colour and quirk Manish Arora, did not disappoint at the grand finale of the Wills Lifestyle India Fashion Week, held in New Delhi recently. His collection, inspired by the Burning Man Festival (a yearly festival dedicated to music, art, and self expression, held at Nevada’s Black Rock Desert), was a remarkable blend of futuristic designs and elegant showmanship with fascinating elements and splashes of neon. The set was done up like a large, T-shaped Parisian catwalk, that lived up to Arora’s international reputation, while electronic projections of the Burning Man Festival made the venue come alive with colour. There was even a spectacular musical presentation by the talented musical band Hilite Tribe from Paris.
As for the collection, it was all about abstract designs revealing natural earth elements. The major prints in the collection were expressions of dark clouds mixed with neon elements, cloudy blue skies above the desert, recreating black and white layers with a hint of warm colours and geometric neon rays on green. The silhouette range offered varieties in printed and embroidered peplum and balloon dresses, pleated tops, trench coats, jackets with Mandarin collars, and knitwear embellished with 3D structures created with rexine, beads, and metal chains. The pieces de résistance were the neon iPad cases carried by the models, and the fluorescent eyemakeup.
Text by Treesha Datta