Heads and tales
Fashion Fix
In a little micro-trend that often has fashion watchers asking whether designers really expect Joe Public to wear whatever it is they're sending out onto the ramp, headgear was a big statement this season.
Nagaland designer Imcha Imchen strapped a pot of fake flowers to the side of one model's head - we're not sure whether he was trying to make a statement (if so, we're equally clueless about what it was) or whether he was merely trying to make if he wanted to pretty up the rather sulky boy. Suffice to say no one noticed the model's grey suit.
Rahul Anand's witty headgear was much more fun: his models walked the ramp wearing helicopters stuck onto Alice bands or with tiny little cloth dogs perched on their heads, a goofy take on the handbag Chihuahua that Paris Hilton and her friends have popularised.
Narendra Kumar, thankfully, stayed both wearable and chic, sending out his young women in trendy caps and fedoras, both with fun, strong metallic accents. Troy Costa, too, put French-style caps on his men. Cuban hats were all the rage at Kunal Rawat's high-voltage menswear show, too. But the men's headgear we liked best were Leocoanet Hemant's military-inspired forage hats (shaped a bit like Gandhi topis), complete with dangly medals and chains - a salute both to the metallic trend and to the India trend.
Clearly, then, covering your head is a key style element for next season. One word of caution, though: flower pots really are suitable wear only if you're in the street parade during Goa's carnival. Everywhere else: avoid.
