Under the over

The ghunghat or veil is suddenly hot right now And we arenrsquot referring to Indiarsquos hinterland We are guessing you noticed Rhea Kapoor now Boolani in a vintage pearl veil at her low profile wedding last month while scrolling through your Insta feed The film producer and stylist dissed the ghunghat yardage for a veil made of pearl strings by jewellery house Birdhichand Ghanshyamdas We hear it had 32000 gold knots Formal and demure but speaking of modern glamourmdashthis veil seemed a good choice for a celebrity who was at the centre of chatter about the absence of a starry wedding the freethinking bride who looked not only radiantly happy but blissfully comfortableSakshi Sindwani for Manish MalhotraOne week later Manish Malhotra focused on the parable of bridal veils of the most personal kind in Nooraniyat the opening show for the virtual avatar of India Couture Week ICW Like a viewer gatecrashing a private party of bridesinwaiting Malhotrarsquos heroines were decked in supersized lehenga skirts embroidered with zardozi badla and sequins that enveloped their body in swirls of fabric making us recall the Victorian crinoline skirts worn by erstwhile ladies to create social distancing The film scored in its attitude toward diversity where models of different ages shapes and ethnicity appeared cavorting the ldquoluminescent dreamrdquoSignificantly the ICW shows this season seemed less tonedeaf to issues of gender inclusion and diversity This is good newsMona Bhujel for Gaurav GuptaGaurav Gupta GG in fashion circles believes in trickleup egalitarian fashion While most designers ticked the diversity boxes this time Gupta walked the walk a year ago casting a wide net across age colour size identity and sexual preference His appetite for limitless perspectives allows him to push form and fabric to nervousbreakdown extremes Case in point the hybrid lehengagowns and sareegowns he does but also the offshoulder nude gown with killer brims of metallic cording interjected with swoops of sheer fabric This season the silhouette was linear with slithering trailsmdasha respite from vertiginous shaadiwala lehenga looks of the weekmdashand the palette was a sharp blend of nude blue and burgundy with a splash of gold and metallicSonam Kapoor Ahuja for Kunal RawalKunal Rawal too highlighted diversity across its many definitions with a cast of boystomen models and Ms Sonam Kapoor Ahuja The actor wore a textured embroidered bandhgala with dhoti trousers taking the idea of the boyfriend shirt and jeans to a whole different level Vision Quest unpacked and explored a wardrobe of 55 looks some new some constructed from the brand archives how about a compact edit please Rawal imagined his men in an urbanrockstar meld of Frenchknot textures kurtakaftan combos bandi jackets and onpoint patchwork sherwanis crafted from fabric castoffs all interspersed with classic tailoringSony Kaur for Anamika KhannaAnd there was Anamika Khannarsquos film a snub of sorts to couturersquos great expectations of not just who gets access to the elite club but what constitutes totems of elite objects ldquoThis collection is an emotion a way of rejoicing beauty It is an acceptance of what is and a celebration of what we are givenrdquo Khanna said in her press note She saw beauty in places where others werenrsquot looking Here models turned trapeze artists jumpingmdashnot paradingmdashon a bed of flowers literally showing us how a lehenga or a saree can become a mutating expression of the ebb and flow of life some hybrid secondskin of the countryrsquos intricate crafts and art and ingenuity and also avantgarde After all levity is just the cushioning antidote we needAlthough couture week featuring 19 brands celebrated diversity the veil stayed more or less constant floorsweeping seductive in nature Sure bridal couture sells itself as ldquothe dreamrdquo But are todayrsquos heterosexual womenrsquos dreams about being swept off in a ldquodesigner ghunghatrdquo by a hunkPriyanka Kumari for Tarun TahilianiAt least Tarun Tahiliani paid attention to subverting clicheacuted styling tricks that separate the vanguard from the old guard Case in point His first Bridal look modelled by Priyanka Kumari was a coord set of bustier and slim trousers veiled beneath a 16kali jacket encrusted in kasab variation of zari embroidery and sequins and a matching parasol Next he showed how a simple mundalaya forehead ornament worn by bride and groom can turn into a dreamy headpiece ldquoWhat is couture in Indiardquo Tahiliani asked and answered in a short clip before the Artisanal Couture film ldquoWersquove always had handmade tailormade specifically measured we are used to couture we love it we are entitled to it and it fuels the wonderful craftsmen across the country who give us these amazing techniques to work with And this couture week is a celebration of new ideas lightness and great finesserdquoShonali Sharma for Tarun TahilianiThe veil means many things Wearing one on the wedding day is historically connected to superstitions about warding off evil while also representing specific faiths and family traditions At other times itrsquos seen as an outdated reference to the virginal bride We argue that a piece of head cover already bloated with expectations could surely do without designersrsquo meddling tooRashmi Mann For Amit AggarwalSo itrsquos heartening to report that Amit Aggarwalrsquos collection of 35 styles and silhouettes piquing optical illusions of the veil looked agreeably fresh and unforced He wrapped his outfits in cascading layers of gradient veiling over 3Dhand embroidery and painterly marbling patterns creating a fantasy that was also empowering Metanoia was a wonder of craft and a thing of beauty imagined from alternative ecofriendly materials like glass fibre and raffia palm discarded PVC and green polymer Thatrsquos modern Indian couture for you