Project Runway: Madras Couture Fashion Week

 Taking up the baton of introducing new talent and inclusivity, Madras Couture Fashion Week returns with its fourth edition
Satish Jupiter & Ashna Zhaveri
Satish Jupiter & Ashna Zhaveri

The Madras Couture Fashion Week has gained a reputation for being a platform for aspiring designers to break into the industry. Boasting of a guest list including the likes of designers Vivek Karunakaran and Sidney Sladen, the fourth edition of the three-day event will feature 12 designers. Also, expect collaborative collections by students of FIDA Design School and The Academy of Fashion and Textile Technology. “This is a platform for budding designers to show their creations with a focus on building opportunities and relationships, in the presence of critics and experts from in and around Chennai,” says organiser Satish Jupiter of Jupiter Events.


Conscious fashion
The annual event, which is known to slot one show for a social cause every edition, puts the spotlight on inclusive fashion and adaptive clothing this year, with Chennai-based designer Shalini Visakan’s show seeing 11 differently-abled models in wheelchairs gracing the ramp, while showcasing adaptive clothing with details like magnetic buttons and detachable sleeves, giving a fashionable edge to clothes for the differently abled.  


Up-and-comers
Meanwhile, this season’s list of debut designers include Komal Murthy and Mona Sundaram, who bring their line of figure-flattering Indian and Western 
silhouettes printed in astronomy-inspired motifs in a colour palette dominated by pinks and yellows on black. Also set to make their debut are Sasi Rekha Kumar and Monica Jain with their collection themed, “Transition”, featuring cherry red, turquoise blue, gold and silver, representing the transition between day and night. Also look out for “Nityastra” by Deepika Raja and “Mitshaa” by Madhumitha Natraj, featuring Oriental details in the necklines and sleeves in an azure blue-dominated palette, in their collaborative collection.


Look out for Fernand Ratier and “Titli” 
by Nikita Jain, says Satish, adding that the two designers never fail to bring novelty to the table. “Fernand is doing amazing things in his quest to reinvent the sari by innovating traditional draping techniques, whereas ‘Titli’ is bold and experimental, while staying connected to Indian roots,” he adds. Also expect to find Deepika Pillai returning with her wedding collection of jacketed saris, bridal gowns, lehengas and anarkalis in a traditional palette of beige, baby pink, twilight orange, maroon and ivory with gold.
The invite only event is on from July 28-30. At Westin. Details: 9841420066

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