Designers, not celebrities in focus at LFW (Rerview)

Mumbai, March 7 (IANS) Designers, creativity and the unsung heroes of the style world hogged the limelight at the just-concluded Lakme Fashion Week summer/resort 2012. The five-day event highlighted the hard work of the designers rather than giving importance to celebrities.

Designer Rohit Bal's grand finale set a benchmark with its unusual concept and wonderful collections and got a standing ovation. The best part was that there were no celebrity showstopper for his show.

"Anjana (Anjana Sharma, Director Fashion of IMG Reliance) said people kept calling and saying they would like to be my showstopper. I said no to everyone because it doesn't make sense," Bal told IANS.

"For me, for a finale if you do things without a showstopper and get a standing ovation, I think it makes you realize that you don't need a showstopper," he added.

Model-actor Arjun Rampal, who came to cheer his close friend Bal, said: "I think showstoppers and all is fun if its connected well. You don't necessarily need one all the time. The star today is the designer and his clothes."

This time around, the designers were more keen on highlighting creativity and the deft hands behind the finishing of the outfits they display on the ramp. James Ferrari set an example when he got his tailors on the stage post the show and gave them their due credit.

"I spend more than half my day with the tailors who work with me and I know what they go through. It is important we do something to upgrade their skills because a designer is nothing without them," Ferrari told IANS.

"They are the most supportive people. They make around 35 outfits a day. They have worked day and night. They were working continuously for four days. They are my showstoppers," he added.

A new breed of designers who displayed their fashion lines felt they don't need to piggyback on celebrities to make a mark in the fashion industry.

"We will make a mark without a celebrity. We want our clothes to speak rather than a celebrity speaking for them," debutants Khushboo and Prem told IANS.

Leading designer Narendra Kumar, who also didn't have a showstopper this time, said: "The careers of so many youngsters depends on this (showcasing at fashion weeks). If you make it mandatory for everybody to have a celebrity, how will the young designers showcase their clothes and where will they get an opportunity to showcase their work?"

"Earlier, people used to talk only about celebrities. Now they talk about fashion, which is wonderful. I am glad that the media has now understood on differentiate between a celebrity and talent," he added.

Though the focus was on designs and designers, the fashion extravaganza that started March 2 did witness some celebrities walking the ramp. For instance, Prateik walked the ramp for Masaba, Dia Mirza for Khushali Kumar, Malaika Arora Khan and Amrita for Vikram Phadnis and Sonali Bendre for Siddhartha Tytler.

Some Bollywood biggies - among them Kajol, Arjun Rampal, Jaya Bachchan and Bipasha Basu - were also spotted in the front row at some shows.

In the end, however, celebrities, glitter and glamour couldn't overshadow the creativity and the designers!