Like last year, Nachiket was great, But we're greedy

Nachiket Barve
At: 5.30 pm,u00a0March 30

When you are an alumnus of Ahmedabad's National Institute of Design, India's premiere textile consortium, we can't help but expect nothing short of perfection from you, and Nachiket Barve's collection was everything and more. But at the risk of sounding impossibly demanding, there is more to "innovative fashion", and that's where Nachiket fell short. His new collection celebrated a new inspiration, but not without nursing a hangover from last season. His Spring/Summer 2009 line had him showcase a "secret garden". He created beautiful clusters of flowers, worked with cuts, panels and seams, treating the audience to a game of contrast with luxurious purples, azure, crimson gold, green and mango.

This season, as singer Jamiroquai's crooned Deeper Underground, Nachiket's Fall/Winter collection titled Core, saw him look down, literally, at the elements of the earth; crystal formations, molecular structures, Malachite patterns, veins running through stone, layers seen in sedimentary and metamorphic rocks, organic forms in Agate, Onyx and Opal. Perhaps too clinical for a frivolous fashionable mind? To put it simply, it was a collection of sharp fitted dresses, structured slouch coats, dressy evening coat dresses and bias cut dresses, all reminiscent of his last spectacular showcase.

The earth's surface was brought to life with impeccable embroidery and texturing. The no-nonsense trait that perhaps comes from his Maharashtrian genes, didn't allow him to get lured by external embellishments. He chose to stick with layering, digital embroidery, piping and edging details, paneling, applique, cutwork, and the use of flecks to create constructive tension.

The collection will sell on the power of his label, no doubt. Could we get a wee bit greedy and ask for some off-kilter ideas translated on refreshing silhouettes?