India Bridal Fashion Week 2013: Day Two

Meera and Muzaffar Ali played host to the first show on the second day of the bi-annual event. Themed Pearl of Orient, I totally loved how the ensembles brought about an air of understated elegance. Noir-golds, shades of off-white, and even pistachio against reds formed the palette of the Kotwara collection that was enveloped with beautiful influences of the crafts of Awadh.

Kotwara by Meera Muzaffar Ali, India Bridal Fashion Week 2013

Rina Dhaka's collection presented some very loud colours (I loved it!) brought to life by majestic phulkari work within styles that were titled Free Spirited Bride. Loads of jharokha embroidery and a fine play on textures. I especially loved the unusual patterns on the silhouettes; a very refreshing change. The real cherry on top to me was how light the clothes seemed despite being a bridal collection. It's so hard to wear such heavy clothes and having to mingle with people during your wedding days. Nothing tires a bride out than a 10 kg lehenga! I think Rina Dhaka is going to be the go to designer for the up coming wedding season for brides who really want to enjoy their wedding minus all the drama of super heavy clothes. Showstopper Sophie Choudry looked absolutely lovely in a colorful sharara paired with a strapless blouse with mirror work on it. The dupatta looked so chic yet light at the same time (a heavy dupatta can really give someone a headache). All in all, a fantastic and refreshing bridal collection.

Rina Dhaka, India Bridal Fashion Week 2013

Jyotsna Tiwari's collection on the other hand, I wouldn't say that I am head over heels in love with. I am not an Indo-Western fusion outfit fan so the dresses didn't strike me much. Of course I'm sure the embroidery on it was intricate and all that, but I think Indian designers have a long way to go before they perfect the art of dressmaking (and i mean dresses). Moving on to the Indian wear, the waist length choli with peplums was not particularly great and neither was the kaftan paired over the lehenga. The whole collection just seemed like the designer was trying too hard to look "different". The karigari on the clothes was very nice and is completely wasted on the silhouettes. In fact, Jacqueline Fernandez's outfit seems to be somewhat copied from Raf Simons debut couture collection for Christian Dior where ballgowns were paired with cigarette pants.

Jyotsna Tiwari, India Bridal Fashion Week 2013