Magic in monochromes

When one thinks of summer colours, soft pastels — aqua, peach, pinks. In the midst of floral prints and rainbow colours, Jayanti Reddy’s Life in Monochrome designs came as a breath of fresh air. The Hyderabad-based designer, who specialises in bridal wear, created a collection that caters to the modern bride. From simple cuts to more elaborate zardosi and beaded designs, each piece held a summery charm, despite the lack of colour.

Models waltzed in wearing lighter silks and breezy chiffons. Off-shouldered blouses, capes with cold shoulders, dhotis, skirts and ruffled dupattas made the collection classy and edgy, while a few elaborately designed ghagras and simple sarees kept the traditional aspect of the collection alive.

When Shilpa Shetty stepped out onto the ramp in an elaborate ivory lehenga, with a scalloped hemline and an elaborate artfully ruffled jacket and dupatta, she looked every bit the princess bride.

After the show, a relieved and elated Jayanti revealed that working with monochromes was quite a challenge for her. “I usually use a lot of bright colours in my designs. Even if you look at my winter and fall collections, you’ll see a lot of vivid colours. So, deviating from that, but still keeping it summery was quite the challenge. I kept the materials light so that the dresses still hold their summer-cool charm, even without the characteristic pastels,” she smiled.

Why an entire collection in monochromes? Jayanti explains that this is what many a modern bride looks for in a trousseau. “A lot of brides like to go for understated muted colours for their weddings. That doesn’t mean that the design should be any less gorgeous,” said the designer, who was wearing one of her own statement jackets, with intricate beadwork.

Glowing in her elaborate, elegant bridal dress, Shilpa confessed that she had especially fallen for the jackets in Jayanti’s collection. “You can’t wear this outfit to a wedding unless you want to upstage a bride,” she said with a laugh. “What’s special though is that you can team up the jacket I’m wearing with a simple pair of jeans or dhoti pants and wear it to a party. When Jayanti had first shown me the designs, there was only one ghagra, but she showed me around seven different jackets that could go with them, and I loved each of them,” she added.