Mumbai: Fashion Fix with Shweta Shiware
This week, focus on
>> Spotting the difference between Nalanda Bhandari and Elie Saab and Anna Sui's collections
>> Questions the fashion industry should be asking Madhur Bhandarkar

nalanda, 21/10/2008

anna sui, 29/9/2008

"We are designers. We are exposed to so many influences, that sometimes, we end up using similar elements without realising it," says Nalanda Bhandari in her defense.

You might have believed that one before you saw these photographs of the A-line sheath dress.

The outfit on the right was part of Nalanda's Lakme Fashion Week collection that walked the ramp on October 21, 2008.

The one to your left is what veteran American designer Anna Sui showed in New York this September.

Apart from the neckline, everything about Nalanda's dress shouts Anna Sui; whether it's the cutwork border and sleeves, the length of the dress, the bow embroidery on the hem, even the colour combination.

It was while shopping for fabrics in a market, that Nalanda stumbled on the idea of using stripes of felt paper to create the gown she used as showstopper.

Again, a frightfully similar version was part of Elie Saab's Fall Couture collection in July 2007. "Now that you have brought it to my attention, I will make sure these two garments don't go into production," promises Nalanda.

Actor Adah Sharma wore the showstopper garment, a silver-gray gown, that looks like a straight lift from Elie Saab's Couture Fall 2007 line. Ironically, the Lebanese fashion designer who is synonymous with modern luxury, was criticised for "being a victim of repetition" in this particular collection.