The day began with the weaves show titled ‘The Story of the Weaves’. It was conceptualised by Nandini Palchoudhuri who has worked with weavers for over two decades. She said, “I went to the weavers, picked up garments which were ready and available and put them together. Nothing had been especially created.”
Nandini brought together cottons and silks and exhibited a wide range of tangail, baluchari and dhakai sarees made by local craftsmen in West Bengal.
Soumitra Mondal’s collection was only about dresses in all possible shapes, sizes and styles. He used plaid with colours like beige, blacks and whites. There was no synergy, no story. A lot of the pieces were repeated in different hues and it didn’t look like he was very interested in making a statement. The otherwise talented designer came off as very mediocre. Soumitra had earlier presented a collection called ‘Chowraha’ for Spring/Summer 2008 at the LFW which was near-perfection. Wonder what happened since?
Neeta Lulla’s collection was a mishmash of her previous works. It was all déjà vu as hints of Silsila Yeh Chahat Ka from Devdas, Nimbooda from Hum Dil De Chuke Sanam and Azeem-O-Shaan Shahenshah from Jodhaa-Akbar were quite evident. She did, however, manage to connect with the Bengali audience by adorning the models in the trademark big red bindi. But it was all been-there-seen-that as most ensembles have been seen on the ramp or on-screen before. The clothes were ill-fitting. Alas, it seems like the Bollywood designer has stopped innovating.
The last show of the day was Mona Pali’s show. The designer was confused and didn’t know what she was showcasing — over-the-top outfits with absolutely no styling or colours.
