Abu Jani and Sandeep Khosla opened Lakme Fashion Week’s winter/festive 2015 edition in Mumbai on Tuesday night with Jawani Jaaneman, a scintillating bang of a theatrical show and a celebratory collection that played on the nostalgia of the ’70s and ’80s.
A thrilling playlist that had a throaty Asha Bhosle’s Raat Akeli Hai (Guide) and Jawane Jaaneman (Namak Halal) playing alongside Ellie Goulding’s Love Me Like You Do and Diana Ross’ Love to Love You Baby had everyone singing along as the show unfolded.
It was shimmer and shine all the way — like liquid gold and silver. Swarovski and sequins swayed by with a “big hair, don’t care” attitude.
The collection had it all — thigh high slit dresses, deep backs, sheer jackets, cocktail dresses, sequined men’s pants, crop tops, low-rise pants, tartans, sexy saris, churidars in chiffon, silk, leather, lace and the Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla staple, chikan, embedded with Swarovski crystals — alluring glamour at its spectacular best, AJSK-style. It was literally like watching lust on the ramp floor.
The line celebrated the beauty of men and women with imaginatively enchanting and fluid designs steeped in India’s rich heritage but reinvented with a contemporary vision without skimping on the fun aspect.
“It is, both, a yearning for yesterday, brimming with nostalgia, and a glimpse into the future of AJSK. Think hippie-gone-outre chic. Think shiny disco balls, kaftans gone couture and saris for the 21st century diva. Think glamour and gyration, dance and abandon. It’s a celebration that takes us back to the future, because classic is always current,” said the designers that had Jaya Bachchan, Dimple Kapadia and Twinkle Khanna, Pinky and Sanjay Reddy, and Nita and Isha Ambani making up a very glamorous front row.
The show is best described in the words of the designers themselves, “Life’s a ball, a shiny disco ball.”
We couldn’t agree more, especially if you’re clothed in one of their visually arresting designs from the new Jawani Jaaneman collection.
Rubina A. Khan is a Mumbai-based freelance writer
