Casual to couture: Look chic in white (Sartorial Trends)

From skirts to saris, jumpsuits to lehengas, shrugs to business suits, and shirts to sherwanis -- white and pastels are acing the race in the fashion world -- both in the casual and couture space.

Complementing both traditional as well as contemporary designs and patterns, the shade speaks of being crisp, clean and confident.

Be it at fashion galas or as part of popular fashion brands' collections -- keeping it neutral and classy with white has become the style mantra.

Designer Samant Chauhan, known for the understated elegance that his ensembles exude with white and pastel shades, told IANS: "I personally like light pastel shades and white a lot. But, initially, I started using them because it was difficult to dye fabrics in a different colour."

Chauhan says it is challenging for designers to create something interesting with white as people perceive it as a "bare shade".

Nevertheless, right from designers, international stars, royalty, Bollywood's style divas and fashion bloggers, everyone has been stepping up their fashion game with white.

Actress Priyanka Chopra, who has flaunted white several times for promotional events and red carpet galas, chose a crop top and a long shrug -- both in white -- paired with jeans for her airport look over the weekend.

Be it wearing a white shirt with a long ethnic skirt, or teaming it up with casual blue boyfriend jeans, white is never a disappointment.

A just-concluded couture gala in the capital saw designers like Suneet Varma, Rahul Mishra, Reynu Taandon, Amit Aggarwal and Falguni & Shane Peacock play with bespoke embroidery and embellishments over white and pastels.

Even at the Lakme Fashion Week 2018, designers like Padmaja Krishnan, Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla and Anita Dongre made peace with these subtle and soothing shades.

Just earlier this year, white rocked the wedding scene with former "Suits" star Meghan Markle flaunting a pristine white House of Givenchy gown as she walked the aisle to marry Prince Harry. Even Bollywood's fashion diva Sonam Kapoor chose an off-beat ivory lehenga choli for her mehendi and sangeet ceremony, which was themed on "Shades of White".

The "Aisha" actress wore an off-white classic "chikankari" work lehenga-choli, that was delicately designed by the ace designers Abu Jani-Sandeep Khosla. Her hair was styled with long beautiful fishtail braids and adorned with strings of white mogra flowers.

Designer Vipul Asija, who works closely with the designer duo, told IANS that young brides have been experimenting and breaking convention.

"Call it the Bollywood effect. Young girls are changing the norms. They want the traditional designs but with contemporary outlines and colours. The concept of a white bride is also new to India. It was not the same as it was 10 years ago," Asija told IANS.

"White is a fresh and stylish colour. You can style a white outfit with kundan, emerald, ruby or diamond in terms of jewellery. It is a win-win colour for everyone," he added.

It's a trend for street-wear as well. Fashion outlets like Forever 21, H&M and Pantaloons, have been launching collections with white and pastels dominating the colour palette. These are not just fitting for a casual day look, but won't look jarring at work as well.

Popular designer Varija Bajaj feels people have started accepting new forms of fashion based on their cultural interactions.

"It is only when you are well-travelled that you evolve your thoughts and fashion. White colour and contemporary designs being accepted by the Indian fraternity has a lot to do with this factor," Bajaj told IANS.

(Smriti Singh can be contacted at smriti.singh20180@gmail.com)

--IANS

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