Simply Sparkling

Sabyasachi's template of mixing textures and prints may be going through an overkill, making clones of all of us. But simply irresistible are his newest line of vintage clutches. With delicate gold and peal embroidery, these take any simple kurta (or even a basic LBD) to fashionable places. Team it with his brocade and zardozi hairbands.

Manish Malhotra is the name on everyone's lips these days, Much of this has to do with Kareena Kapoor's wedding, where he dressed up the bride and her friends and family. Malhotra is also riding the wave of the anarkali silhouette — he's layered it, turned it into a floor-sweeping gown and brought amazing contemporary touches to it which have found fans in Madhuri Dixit-Nene and Karisma Kapoor.

Manish Arora, on the other hand, has collaborated with Rajasthani jewellery label Amrapali to bring us some fun and colourful baubles in traditional avatars. A bridal haath phool is made with a bright pink dragon, and a kada has two tiger heads. There are maang tikkas, earrings and necklaces served with a twist.

This line was also shown by Arora at his Paris Fashion Week Spring-Summer show. I don't think we've ever seen such playfulness with saris either. The beautiful Indian drape refuses to fade away constantly reinventing itself for the young and avant-garde.

Designer Suman Bajaj is the newest to toy with the sari; his comes with a handy inbuilt pocket. "I like to surprise my clients by fulfilling an unrecognised requirement, and giving them something they only realise they need once it's available," she says in an interview to a magazine.

Varun Bahl's T-shirt saris are a personal favourite — it's usually a lightly embroidered sari with an embroidered T-shirt in net and lycra. If this doesn't promise to light up our closets (and lighten our wallets), nothing else will.

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