To be showcased at the upcoming Lakme Fashion Week, the collection inspired by modern-day princess brings together hand woven textiles from Benares, ikat from Andhra Pradesh and vegetable block prints from Bhuj on mashru silk and raw silk.

Bringing a contemporary stamp to the look, the luscious fabrics are combined with clean silhouettes such as cigarette pants, jackets, dresses and blouses, making them wearable wherever one travels.

The colour palette is comprised of emerald greens, reds, royal blue, classic browns and blacks. As a complement to the collection, Anita Dongre uses a variety of astounding accessories, perfect for the Indian women looking for a balance between their love for western wear and their ethnic sensibilities.

About the collection Anita Dongre says, “This season, my main source of inspiration was the idea of a modern-day princess. She is beautiful, confident, elegant and most of all, feminine, the epitome of a true Anita Dongre woman. This collection is for the global woman with an Indian heart thus, emphasis is given to fashion, wear-ability and use of traditional Indian fabrics.”

The collection showcases an ageless purity of line, colour and form, inspired by the eternal beauty of the classics. This season the designer has drawn from the zero – the sari, the kurta, the dhoti and the drapes of India to create a collection heightened by a palette of white, black, grey, gold skin and cranberry brown with a hot mix of fuchsia, saffron, burnt orange, sunshine yellow and iced glacial water.

The collection styled in the raw sensual glamour of the twenties has whimsical motifs, sensational colors and high octane glamour with the renewed energy of revivalist craft and contemporary construction.

With sixty of the finest pieces from the Studio’s latest couture collection on display, talking about the nuances of his couture vision Tarun said, “In India, fine workmanship finds itself in the hands of the artisans who have been pouring their energy, patience and painstaking hours into their work for hundreds of years. It is their intricate workmanship that celebrates and feeds Indian Couture, coupled with the European tradition of fine fit, tailoring and structured draping, these skills and traditions have been reinvented to produce an entirely novel blend of Indian finery and layered western construct in our collection.

The new bridal couture collection infuses revivalist craft and contemporary construction with progressive principles of design to create memorable couture pieces. “Bridal is about the bride. It shouldn’t be about trends. Women are still making polarized choices when it comes to couture, but clearly they must be true to who they really are,” added Tarun emphatically.

For something out of the ordinary, there are emerald green shararas in georgette with chikankari embroidery that exude classic charm. Three-dimensional antique gold sequinwork laid in clusters creates the illusion of depth and shade.

“Rich south Indian mangalgiri cotton can be couture too. I don’t see why couture has to be silk… they have day weddings too,” says Tahiliani with aplomb, as he infuses cool charm into cream cotton, crinkled and flared kurta with zari border styled with an embroidered kamarbandh and an ivory Angrakha in cotton voile with fine chikanwork styled with a cotton silk stole.

The very vibrant chic and youthful designs have geometrical 3-D embroidery, bold color blocking combinations, leather cutwork detail and specially engineered metal embellishments. The use of bright hues like blue and orange compliment the subtle colors like brown and white with loads of the glitter of gold.

Keeping with his signature style of couture with a touch of dramatic tailoring, the new line spells red carpet glamour, elegance and sophistication, with a dark Gothic twist.

The collection features gowns, short dresses with accents like power shoulders, chains, felt applique, embroidery, brass work and tone on tone sequence work in addition to feathered silhouettes. The color palette is comprised of midnight blue, stone grey, wine and deep purple.

This season, the designer has designed clothes which are uber chic, contemporary and affordable seeing her trademark embroideries and textures in rich colors. The highlight of her collection will be a range of digital saris with contemporary motifs, along with a kind of a silhouette, sort of a single piece of structured clothing that can be draped as a tunic or dress.

The collection inspired by the Lotus flower comes as an experimental couture. The colour palette revolves around the colours found in various varieties of the flower tempered by neutrals namely black, white and nude. The silhouettes go a step further in defining the underlying inspiration and the meticulously handcrafted embellishments along with the wide choice of fabrics act as key catalysts in keeping the collection timeless and wearable.