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The ramp comes alive

There is glamour galore on the ramp, but along with that, a whole lot of drama is showing up at fashion shows too. So, out with that single file of models with deadpan expressions, and in with pulsating thematic drama!

The ramp comes alive


Swati Rai

There is glamour galore on the ramp, but along with that, a whole lot of drama is showing up at fashion shows too. So, out with that single file of models with deadpan expressions, and in with pulsating thematic drama! To make viewing fashion an immersive experience for the audience, designers are bringing yoga asanas, dances and street art to the ramp. Be it to grab eyeballs, stand out amongst the myriad shows at fashion weeks, break the monotony or be it a genuine effort to convey one’s design sensibilities, the trend has caught up like anything. 

Timeless touch

Ritu Kumar’s 2012 collection Panchvastra, meaning five threads, was an emotive representation of the many personalities of a woman. The show portrayed this through central characters from epics and used textile, theatre and film to exhibit how these personalities are relevant across ages and cultures. Dancer Anita Ratnam represented Ganga, Dia Mirza walked the ramp as Draupadi, Kirron Kher was Kunti, Seema Biswas was Amba and Sushmita Sen portrayed Gandhari. Additionally, 16 performers were adorned in costumes portraying various moods from the collection. Thespian Neelam Mansingh Chowdhary choreographed the show.

An Indian story

Known for her revivalist fashion sensibilities, designer Madhu Jain brought a lot of grace to the stage with her Amazon India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2018 collection. Padma awardee Prathibha Prahlad’s Prasiddha Repertory presented a dance as a prelude to Jain’s collection. The kathakali performance added to the show, which was a paean to the frescoes and murals of Kerala’s Guruvayur temple. The motifs were primarily designed around the ‘dance of the bulls, running in the wild, being one with nature.’ “I chose to have a dance sequence before the show as the collection reflected the tradition of Kerala and kathakali is the folk dance of the state,” she says.

Stark imagery 

“I am not much of a thinker and trend analyst or follower. I just do it and then see the creative on the ramp,” says Rajesh Pratap Singh. And he did exactly that with his collection where he had models wearing intricately crafted textiles in the backdrop of hospital imagery. “For better or worse, I’ve been in and out of hospitals quite often and I thought of translating that on the ramp. The polka dots that you see are actually like drops (could be a play on blood). Flowers on the dress appear to be diffused... it’s a take on the imagery of an aspirin dissolving in water.”

Quirky chic

Nida Mahmood is known for pop culture in her designs. She now brings it to her shows as well. For her, “an interactive presentation is extremely important, quite like a dish in a restaurant.” This philosophy is visible in her last few collections — from New India Bioscope and Good Luck Irani Café to Junglee Billee and the recent Deivee, where she had the iconic Mann Kaur walking the ramp barefoot with Milind Soman. “Each show has been put together keeping in mind the visual drama that can be offered to the onlooker,” she says.

One with the world

Design house Huemn’s signature burkha-inspired shirt dress livened up its recent show at Amazon India Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2018. There were models not just walking the walk, but one of them came ambling in a zigzag manner, as if trying to find herself... “I feel there is so much happening in and around us. Also adding to that is the social media on an overdrive. Life, then, does get reflected on the ramp,” say Pranav Mishra and Shyma Shetty, Vogue Fashion Fund Winners 2017. The designers feel that they present a point of view not with the intention of aggressively making a point, but to gently place it in on the ramp with appropriate imagery.

Influenced by the socio-economic and political ambience of our times, they say: “Fashion is informed by our emotional response to the environment. In this constantly connected world, we are exposed to stories of unimaginable horror, and also those of unconditional love. There is crime and suffering and then there are heroes worth celebrating.”

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