For India Couture Week 2014, Manish Arora will be showcasing his Kaleidoscope. It will have Jewels in Gold, his every look focuses on the integration of gold through gold-plated detailing highlighted against pastels like sea green, powder blue and ivory on diverse fabrics like heavy crepe, duchesse satin and silk dupions to recreate the Indian sensibilities in western silhouettes.

Much like his inspiration, the kaleidoscopic lights from the famous Lights Festival in Belgium and Paris, sequins of different sizes and proportions translate and mimic the light bulbs, recreating the geometric and abstract patterns. Luxurious fabrics like velvets and silk dupions in a darker color palette including maroons, blacks and emerald greens, form the perfect base to simulate the prismatic effects.

With the architectural magnificence of The Peacock Room in Castello di Sammezzano in Tuscany, Italy as the key inspiration, The Peacock Story is revisiting ‘old school Manish Arora’. Multicolor stripes, gold rexine embroideries, and 3D highlights on bases of bright color are some of the elements that bring alive the psychedelic referencing. Appliqué, zari, peacock textures and traditional embroideries harmoniously weave in the Indian aesthetic with the European sensibility.

Nyx, goddess of the night, is the inspiration behind Gaurav Gupta’s collection, which takes place behind a wink of that goddess.

For India Couture Week 2014, the designer has Ephemural Jackets, Philosophy Gowns, Fire Dripped Sari Gowns and Calypso Lehnga Gowns are a few silhouettes and styles that character his story adorn. They are made tangible by lace, icthyl tulle, stinging jersey and phosphorus brocade. The palette they revel in is an archipelago of Sanguine Blue, Seismic Red, Wishing White and Byron’s Gold among others.

Day 4 and 5:

The fourth day of the Paris Couture Week saw brands like Maison Martin Margiela, Frank Sorbier, Elie Saab, Rad Hourani, Jean Paul Gaultier, Adeline André, Valentino and Viktor and Rolf, presenting their collections on the runway.

The major highlights of the day included Maison Martin Margiela’s collection replete of floral weaves and Japanese embroideries. Showcased were a couple of gowns in trendy and ethnic colour combinations of pink, olive green, maroon and blue to name a few. Accessorised with elegant earrings, head masks, and glimpses of layering, the collection was a less formal take on the otherwise gaudy couture wear.

Whereas, Elie Saab’s collection was all about red carpet looks, cocktail dresses and ornate gowns in vintage colours of ice blue, shimmery golden, rosy red, bottle green and metallic orange. The bulky gowns with furry embellishments and pearl embroideries looked beautiful with the crystal floor setup on the runway.

Moving on, Rad Hourani’s intricate layers included belted, kimono-wrap jackets and multi-collared trenches. With the colour palette including a single black colour, the designer added glitter to the garments with silver threads and sequins.

Jean Paul Gaultier came up next with his vampire inspired collection. On a stark black runway with moon light background, the designer’s creations included the colour scheme of black, white and red. The collection also included a formal pantsuit, a new dimension in the couture category, followed by a gorgeous umbrella bottom black gown with a hoody jacket and golden sequin work, a lustrous golden yellow coat paired with trousers, and patterned work and feathery white gown with net black scarf and angel back among others. All in all, Gaultier’s collection was the major attraction and perhaps the entire couture week!

The day ended with Adeline André, Valentino and Viktor and Rolf’s creation, progressing towards the fifth day of the Paris Haute Couture Week.

With brands like Serkan Cura, Zuhair Murad, Ralph and Russo and Dice Kayek, the run way saw some exquisite creativity on the concluding day.

Highlights include Ralph and Russo’s collection, where most of the creations were shimmered with crystal and pearl embellishments and layering. With a colour scheme including whine red, metallic violet, black, dark brown, floral purple and navy blue, the designer effectively showcased some novel and attractive wedding gowns in artistic styles and bulky bottoms.

Meanwhile, Serkan Cura’s couture collection included a wide range of feather embellishments on every single ensemble. With the use of differentiated feathers in unique and novel styles, the designer clearly exhibited what has never been seen or experienced before. The particularly attention seeking among all was a metallic green feather dress including cargo pants paired with a revealing top and a trendy clutch.

Thus, the Paris Haute Couture Week saw some exclusive new ideologies, designs and creativities in the genre of couture wear, providing the fashionistas with endless choices to make for their upcoming weddings.