An Indian spring at London Fashion Week

Veteran Ashish Gupta brought on a bling blitz with style and humour.

Debutante Hema Kaul stood out with her classic lines.

Mumbai-based designer Little Shilpa showcased her flamboyant collection.

A dekko at the Indian designers at the London Fashion Week.

Sequins, glamour, sportswear and more sequins,” are what Ashish Gupta calls his design signatures. And his new collection — as we saw at the London Fashion Week Spring/Summer 2014, which closed last night — remained true to style. 

It was a glittering (sequins and more sequins) mash-up of grungy sportswear, pop prints, the urban and the ethnic, and the Delhi-born designer delivered them with a healthy dose of humor (more on that later).

At the other end of the spectrum was Hema Kaul, whose collection was shown as part of House of Evolution.

The Dubai-based designer, who debuted at the fashion week September 15, stood out because of the simplicity of her lines, effectively blending traditional lace with contemporary style.

Click next for a front row view of Ashish Gupta’s Spring/Summer 2014 collection

Ripped shimmery jeans, the iconic Coca Cola logo, a metal crown and a sequined plastic bag — Ashish Gupta crafted his show’s opening to encapsulate a glimpse of all that was to follow. 

There were torn jeans, hoodies, vests, denim jackets, shorts, tunics and dresses. There were animal prints and multi-hued stripes. All sequined.

He peppered the show with the Coca-Cola emblazoned vests, sometimes mixing it up with animal prints, Arabic and tribal accents.

The look, Ashish Gupta said, was inspired by the morning after a particularly hard night of partying: When you roll out of bed, throw on a sweatshirt and head out to the corner shop for a caffeine kick (enter Coca-Cola).

“You know when you just put your slippers on and have the jewellery from last night on still,” he explained to reporters.

The narrative, he also said, was about the internationality of the shop owners — Indian, Arabic, African.

“My local corner shop is owned by Arabs, and I love seeing everyday products like beans stacked next to exotic products like figs, where the packaging has this wonderful lettering that looks like calligraphy… It was all a celebration of everything international and what a great multicultural city we live in,” he told Style.com.

The styles certainly grabbed eyeballs, but it was the humble plastic grocery bags, with an Ashish Gupta spin, that was the really star.

Models carried sequined versions with a pineapple here and bananas there, and a particular crowd favorite was a tongue-in-cheek green ‘S&M’ bag.

Just the quirky accessory to please his ideal client (Madonna and Katy Perry feature on the client list): “Fun-loving and sexy with a sense of humour. She likes to make an entrance.”

Click next for Hema Kaul’s London Fashion Week debut 

Hema Kaul’s collection was shown at the London Fashion Week — along with fellow emerging designers and Josh & Nicol’s — as part of House of Evolution. 

Her collection, Deja Vu, was the first on the runway.

Kaul’s palette ranged from pastels to vibrant colors, reflective of the season.

Her designs though were a bit hit and miss. While a textured PVC skirt teamed with a black, jeweled sleeveless number impressed, the floor length gowns were pretty but uninspired. Ditto for the day dresses.

Her use of classic lines meant her clothes were immensely wearable, but attuned to those who prefer to play it safe.

Click next for Little Shilpa’s impressive London Fashion Week turn

For the lovers of flamboyant head gear Little Shilpa is the go-to label.

Shilpa Chavan, a native Mumbaikar, presented her Grey Matter collection, which Mumbai saw before London.

The collection that premiered at the Lakmé Fashion Week in August is inspired by the city’s bazaars and the sari, to Mumbai.

In the Grey Matter, Shilpa gave the traditional sari a contemporary spin, draping them as skirts paired with men’s shirts, ties and collars, redefining gender-specific clothing and playing with Eastern and Western traditions.

Apart from big Indian designers like Manish Arora, Tarun Tahiliani, Sabyasachi Mujherjee, Hemant Trevedi, and Wendel Rodricks, Shilpa Chavan has also worked with British labels like Boudicca, Unconditional and Javier Salvador.

And if her SS14 collection — each piece handcrafted to perfection — is any indication big names will continue to come calling.