Exclusive: Punit Balana Talks About The Story Behind His ’Lakshmi’ Collection For FDCI X Lakmé Fashion Week And The Shaadi Wear Trend He’s Rooting For
Fashion has found its way of mixing contemporary nuance with traditional aesthetic. And in a world where, shoppers root for ‘vintage being the new cool’ designers are constructing their way to designs that help cater distinct ideologies. While, this year’s season-fluid FDCI X Lakmé Fashion Week exhibited a similar flavour through the amazing designer line-up, one collection that totally had my eyes on it, was by designer Punit Balana. Known for effortless silhouettes, breezy prints and festive wear that is more of fun and less a fuss, Punit Balana’s latest ‘Lakshmi’ collection strutted on the runway and had us all smiling. Experimenting with conscious, Earth friendly fashion, Punit’s idea for his latest showcase, gave the backless cholis a Gen-Z update, with new hair accessories, ringing their way into your collection kitty.
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Marinating the grandeur of Rajasthan with modern-day designs, Punit explored with motifs of Mughal war zones, lotus, birds over chanderi silk, hand blocked and vegetable dyed fabric. Pairing flouncy skirts with tiny cholis that reminded me of the Instagram-approved scarf tops, Punit’s colour palette for the line-up was headlined by vermilion red, and henna green. And talking about his vision for Lakshmi, Punit Balana shared with me the many ideas that bloomed on his mood board for the collection, “Lakshmi is all about the cosmopolitan, a free-spirited girl, who’s travelling to Jaipur to attend a friend’s wedding. And it’s about her, what she thinks about fashion, how she wants to dress up, what she wants to wear after these two years of pandemic. We have done something from the time she’s starting her travel till the time she’s saying bye to the family.”
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He further shared,” I mean this collection is also inspired from so many things, from Rajasthan, it’s a rich crafted collection and it has so many elements from Rajasthan’s rooted grandeur that you will see in on the silhouettes. I have also met so many Indian girls who are cautious about their choice of silhouettes, but when it comes to back, people don’t mind, and experiment with what’s trending.”
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Also Read: FDCI X Lakmé Fashion Week Day 4 Delivered Everything From Glimmering Gowns To Sporty Athleisure With These ’It’ Accessories Rising Above All
The collection also incorporated a multitude of potli bags, draped skirts, embellished dupattas, statement tassels, and earthy toned print designs. Closing the show for the designer was actress Janhvi Kapoor, who played the perfect muse for the collection. A perfect combination of a deep red, lehenga choli on Janhvi, resonated with her ideologies of stacking up a festive wear closet that is sassy, modern and fuss-free. Something Punit knew before choosing Janhvi was “I could relate to Lakshmi with Janhvi so much because she is young, experimental, modern and she wants to experiment. When I approached her she was excited and I was too.”
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While I loved Punit’s vision for Lakshmi and the story behind, he spilled some tea about the upcoming shaadi wear trends he’s excited to see this year, “I think the open back blouses, are something, that should be trendy because, like summers are approaching and with the open back you can just breathe and they have a super modern energy at the same time.”
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Punit Balana’s ‘Lakshmi’ collection walked the runway on Day 4 of FDCI X Lakmé Fashion Week 2022. The designer’s previous collections have entered many celebrity closets and were opted by brides like Karishma Tanna, and actresses including Isabelle Kaif for Katrina Kaif’s haldi ceremony, Alia Bhatt, Kiara Advani, Madhuri Dixit, Vidya Balan, amongst others.
Hauterrfly is delivering all the piping hot updates from the FDCI X Lakmé Fashion Week. Follow our series #HauteFrontRow here and on our Instagram to catch the coverage!
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