'I love playing with silhouettes'

Hot couture

Recollecting his first designed outfit, which was for his mother back in 2006, fashion designer Lalit Dalmia believes he has come a long way. “I remember I had been fresh out of my fashion designing course and had designed a silk anarkali in fuchsia colour for my mother. It was a basic outfit which I wasn’t satisfied with. But over the years, I have incorporated multilayered designs,” Dalmia tells Metrolife.

Dalmia initially intended to be an actor, but his parents wanted him to be an entrepreneur. He had actively participated in a lot of plays and theatre activities since his college days and even joined National School of Drama. But his creative pursuits were directed towards design when he joined JD Institute of Designing.

“It is my explorative and imaginative attitude towards art which made me believe that it takes creativity to be an actor as well as a designer. And I wanted to reach the epitome of haute couture. Now, more than a designer, I consider myself as a creator who just doesn’t want to make pretty clothes but wants to make every woman feel like an urban goddess,” he says.

Known for his glamorous styles and producing a range of “siren dresses” that became his trademark, Dalmia often uses innovative materials such as thread mesh or even cutting-edge techniques like neo-couture (luxury couture) and laser technology to fuse leather and fabrics. On his various experiments, the Delhi-based designer opines, “My intention has been to create glamorous ensembles with traditional textures, embroideries, and craftsmanship with modern designs. And I love playing with silhouettes.”

He adds that he uses colours like blue, wine, peach and fuchsia to “infuse a variety of emotions including eroticism, anger and aggression”.

“I want to change the mindset of people who traditionally think that Goth is all about black and dark,” says the designer who is inspired by British couturier Lee Alexander McQueen.
Now, he is all set to debut at the upcoming Lakme Fashion Week 2016 in Mumbai with 13 of his “avant-garde designs” from his new collection ‘Unexplored Poised’ that comprises 36 outfits.

“The concept is based on my dreams and imagination, eclectic energy and thoughts. I explored diverse embellishments, textures and details reflecting the unexplored uncertainties where each woman looks like a fairy, but in my style,” says Dalmia, who will be showcasing on April 2.