ANUPAMA DAYAL

Runway Report

"Shalimaar means different things to different people i.e. the abode of love, a huge diamond, the gardens of Shah Jahan and a famous Bollywood film. For me, Shalimaar brings to mind the fabled gardens in Kashmir," read the programme notes before Anupama Dayal Autumn Winter '11 opened with a kaleidoscope of colors and floral prints. 

Well, the showing was a sumptuous distillation of all Anupama's strengths into a fashion cocktail. The designer's signature mix of digital prints, retro influences and luxe materials was perfectly calibrated. Pop Art references played through the palette of acid pink, orange, canary yellow and shrek green while Mughal influences were evident in the floral prints. "I have lived in Delhi for ten years and the Mughal flower has become a part of my visual vocabulary. I use it here as a focus and to set off a lighthearted collection inspired by Pop Art," explains the designer.

The spending on luxurious fabrics and cinematic level of beauty never ceased. Pashmina, sheep wool blends, twill silk, taffeta and stretch cottons were worked into narrow-waisted maxi dresses and knotted paneled saris [trend alert]. Judging by the murmurs of appreciation throughout the MSA, the hot-seller was none other than the jade two-tiered dress with jharokha prints!

— Explosive Fashion
Photographs — Press Kit