A show which will be remembered in the years to come – there is no other way of summing up the ‘Born in Banaras’ show which concluded a week long fashion extravaganza. 16 of the most revered Indian designers presented their interpretation of the traditional Benarasi weave.

The designers who participated were 

Rohit Gandhi & Rahul Khanna, Namrata Joshipura, Ashish N Soni, Rajesh Pratap Singh, Abhishek Gupta, Gauri and Nainika, Alpana and Neeraj, Abraham and Thakore, Anupamaa Dayal, Malini Ramani, ATSU, Arjun Saluja, Manish Arora, JJ Vallaya, Sabyasachi and Tarun Tahiliani.

The show was a proof of the metamorphosis Indian design form has gone through over the years. Benarasi is not just about a sari or a lehenga, today it is about a jacket, a kaftan, a culotte and much more. It was Indian fashion at it’s best. The show signified the multicultural strength of not just Indian fashion but India as a country as well. The hints of Japanese kimonos, Moroccan kaftans, Parisian cocktail dresses with off shoulders, traditional Indian saris, shervaani’s and lehengas made the entire ensemble interesting. The colour palate consisted of gold, black, white, green, blue and red.

We loved Atsu’s floor length jacket with trousers, Arjun Saluja’s coats and interesting tops with lehengas, Rajesh Pratap’s culottes with jackets, Anupama’s kimono inspired gowns. The show was opened by Rohit Gandhi and Rahul Khana’s super sexy outfits inspired by architecture ( could not get better than that!). However tradition always sweeps in when it comes to Indian fashion, hence Sabya’s green sari and lehenga evoked a festive mood which was complemented by JJ Valaya’s stunning heavy bridal creations and Tarun Tahiliani’s floor length jacket lehengas.