For Manish Malhotra, Couture Will Always Be Something Special

This Couture Week, we attempt to give you the 101 on Indian Couture.

Chaos, couture and celebrities go together at fashion weeks, and Day 1 of India Couture Week was no different.

Swarms full of lifestyle journalists and bloggers, and every fashion person worth their salt occupied the venue; the scene was the same, just the collection had changed.

Manish Malhotra opened the show; Fawad Khan and Deepika Padukone walked the ramp. As the stars entered, journalists hooted and the usually reticent high class that dominates such gatherings tilted their phones to fit in the same frame as them, and take a show-off selfie.

As for the collection, the inspiration for it had been imported specially from erstwhile Persia.

One distinguishable thing about Persian architecture is its structural geometry. Ornate symmetry in design was seen in Manish’s designs too. One dress had Persian building motifs.

Persian creole embroidery was seen in many lehengas.

50 pieces, all more ornate than the other, were being paraded by the models on the ramp. The off-shoulder cholis and cigarette pants were a modern addition to an otherwise traditional collection.

Velvet, yes, lots of velvet was seen. As model Sapna Kumar told The Quint, velvet was her favourite couture fabric, too, for the season.

Azure blue, the colour of many Persian monuments, also made an entry amidst the sea of maroons and reds.

But amidst the finer nuances of couture, one fundamental question seems to have been missed, especially for those of us who know what couture is, but don’t really know what it means.

It is here that we will try to ask people – lots of important people in fashion – about what the word means to them.

What's couture? @ManishMalhotra explains in less than a minute!#IndiaCoutureWeekhttps://t.co/r8w6DbeENb

— The Quint (@TheQuint) July 21, 2016

To me, couture is all about the work... the finish.

Nandini Bhalla, Editor, Cosmopolitan

While to Pernia Qureshi, a woman who is regularly cited as the “go-to” person for all style advice, couture has more personal intonations.

Couture is something really special its something that has been made with a lot of love... a lot of thought.

Pernia Qureshi, Founder, Pernias Pop Up Shop

Okay, but isn’t couture over-glorified? No, says Nandini Bhalla, who says she feels that there is a space for high fashion, and there’s a place for couture.