Verandah brings Ranthambore tiger out of the woods

The majestic Indian tiger found in the jungles of Ranthambore underscored the collection by label Verandah at the Lakme Fashion Week Summer/Resort 2018.
The clothing line, which was dedicated to the national animal, by Anjali Patel Mehta was inspired by the designer's travels to the Ranthambore National Park, where a tiger named T 91, now a renegade, caught her eye.
On a lazy summer morning, it took a group of dhol players to wake the people up and draw their attention to the cause of tiger conservation and rehabilitation of the poachers.
The animal prints, especially the tiger, have continued to remain in vogue, but here in the 'Cruise Collection T 91', the animal was present in its entirety - the face and the whole body.

To raise more awareness about the cause, Mehta collaborated with NGO TigerWatch and pledged to donate 10 per cent profits globally from her collection next year to the organisation.
"We do live in the glamour world. It's a huge business in India. But I feel what these people are doing on ground is what is needed. I feel there should be a greater purpose," she said.

The colour palette ranged from orange-mustard, red, blue, yellow, green and the unfailing layering in the white.
It appeared the ramp had come alive like a forest, awoken by the chirping of the crickets.

The clothing line ranged from dresses to shirt-trousers and shorts, sarees with pants. Some pieces, including scarves and cuffs of men's shirts, had prints of trees, flowers, birds, creepers and the umbrella-like canopy synonymous with Rajasthani architecture.
One of the garment that stood out was a long top and long skirt with a net-like cape made of lace and silver strands, which appeared to hint at tiger hunting.
Designers Saaksha-Kinni and Anjali Dhingra also presented their collection, Forza, along with Mehta.
The designer duo told PTI that their aim was to bring forth the beauty of the state of Gujarat with red, pink, purple and yellow in cotton and tabi silk, through their collection.

"We wanted to go back to our roots and take our Indian traditional colours, prints and designs and modernise them to create an edgy, relevant and modern collection," they said.
Dhingra's show was the perfect balance bete black and white as her clothing line was inspired by the Chinese philosophy of yin and yang.
Talking about her collection, she said, "The idea was to mix couture and pret... That couture cannot just be about bridal wear."
Under her label 'Aikeyah', the show presented was equal parts shimmer and depth with floral motifs on sheer, use of lace and A-line dresses.