Shruti Thacker takes us along on a Fashion Week adventure
From the outside, Fashion Weeks seem like a week long party, where glamorous people meet up and play style-police together, but the inside couldn't be more different. Especially for the digital media influencers who manage to walk up and down the fashion week venue several times a day, networking with the industry people, curating website content with the designers, reporting on all the shows live from the front row and still manage to look unbearably put-together with a casual elegance that only comes with effortless style. We followed around Vogue India’s super chic Digital Editor Shruti Thacker for five days of Amazon India Fashion Week to find out what she wears, who she meets and even what she eats between the shows.
DAY 1
Describe your look: White Champa blouse and culottes with an En Inde necklace and ‘ZX Flux’ shoes by Adidas. How do you look like a grown-up while wearing colourful sneakers? By adding some elegant, breezy separates of course.
The show you enjoyed the most: Road to Chanderi was a fresh way to start fashion week. Instead of doing a finale with multiple designers (by that time we are exhausted and jaded), it was good to see so many established and young designers present their interpretation of the timeless Chanderi weave.
Coolest thing you spotted: Preeti Dhata’s Lovebirds trousers paired with a turtleneck and topped off with an adorable bralet — the only way to update your T-shirt game.
Show music you grooved to: Rajesh Pratap Singh shows always have the best playlist and this season was no different. Leonard Cohen (‘I'm Your Man’ + ‘Everybody Knows’) left me in a good mood long after the show got over. And one of the songs my Shazam thankfully picked up during Akaaro by Gaurav Jai Gupta's show was ‘Two Times a Charm’ by Leikeli47 that I'll be playing on loop for a long time to come.
DAY 2
Describe your look: I love how versatile Péro is, I wore this dress from their A/W 16 collection as a jacket because I wanted to change things up and add some street cred to the pretty poppy flower embroidered detail.
The show you enjoyed the most: Who says khadi has to be boring? Abraham & Thakore had fun with the fabric with khadi joggers, sheen and typography. Payal Pratap's collection was beautifully detailed and so wearable — you could easily pick out an outfit from the runway and wear it without any edits.
Where do you eat at Fashion Week: Cafe Lota is a good addition to the fashion week food court (tried their explosive beetroot chops) and then there is the good ol' Olive that never seems to fail us during fashion week.
DAY 3
Describe your look: Péro once again — This S/S 17 dress with beaded embroidery (of minute and adorable flowers) mixed with lace and in an ivory shade, is how summer should be done. I finished the look with my Shivan & Narresh espadrilles to hammer home the idea of summer.
Where did you go before/after the show: Péro's preview at her studio was one of the cleverest thing to incorporate into Fashion Week this time. It made me want to skip on the shows and spend the entire day lounging in the garden, reading from their large selection of books.
The show you enjoyed the most: I love how Sanchita pays attention to every aspect of a look — right down to the shoes and bags. The cacti print, the mini bugs embroidered on the outfits, the show was perfection. Their clothes are one of the most wearable pieces I saw on the runway this time, they are so playful and summery.
DAY 4
Describe your look: I wore AM.IT by Amit Aggarwal — This collection made up of his childhood memories is just so perfect, it reminds you of a time when everything was easy, the stress of life hadn't taken over and you were always engulfed in happiness. It's a mature take on all of that, minus the cliched kitsch -- so beautiful, even intricate, but it's not heavy or difficult to wear. The dress reminds me of a song by Chance the Rapper - 'Same Drugs'.
Show music you grooved to: AM.IT playlist was the bomb. It went so well with the runway setup and clothes, I wanted to dance throughout the show.
Who did you hang out with: Fashion week is by far the most stressful time for anyone working in the digital media — from Snapchat to Facebook live, everything has to happen instantly. You end up spending so much time with your team (my fashion week crew is the most amazing bunch of people) you have very little time left for small talk and you are glad for it. You bounce ideas off each other, work round the clock and still wake up all bushy tailed, bright eyed ready for the next day. Every season, they are the ones who make fashion week amazing.
DAY 5
Describe your look: A wrap top with custom fringed jeans. At the end of fashion week, fashion takes last precedent when it comes to dressing up. This simple white wrap dress from MTWTFSS Weekday is sexy without being trashy. My culottes are custom Pepe Jeans, I got them a couple of months back and asked the Pepe team to undo the hem.
Where did you eat: During the week, I made some post-show runs to La Bodega, Fio and Public Affair to satisfy my comfort-food cravings.
Photography : SAMIR RANA, STYLESPY.IN