Rocky picks on 'Lolita' for inspiration

Bollywood's favourite designer chose to depart from his strongly sexy, silver screen mould and give us a new direction to Fall/Winter '06. His collection is dedicated to the modern day 'Lovely Lolitas'.

In his own words, "It is about a woman who is flirtatious, sexy, intelligent and confident," he says. "It talks about her dual personality. All pretty and proper on the outside, with a naughty, mean streak within. It’s cheek and chutzpah, cleverly concealed by innocence."

Drawing inspiration from teen fashion of the 60s and 70s, Rocky came up with a western look that is chic and contemporary, with touches of his flamboyant style. This collection found him playing with separates as never before, putting them together to create a flirty, young, feminine look.

Rocky's skirts came in all shapes and lengths, from the barely there micro minis, to nostalgia inducing flouncy, layered, calf length ones and finally long columnar numbers perched provocatively at the hips. One detail that caught my eye, was the bunched up waistline of this shimmery gold skirt, held in place with an applied waistband.

Denim played an important part but was restricted to leg clinching jeans with lavish embroidery, and seemed discordant with the over all feel of the collection. Metallic and glitter elements were spotted, as gold shorts, dazzling structured jackets and glittering corsets gave the collection the drama it needed.

Fabrics ranged from lace, georgette, chiffon, lame and Rocky's new favourite - faux fur, appeared as trims, bolero jackets, and stoles, sometimes with jarring effect. Asymmetry was the common theme, whether for his tunics, blouses, skirts or dresses.

Rocky showed a fondness for the 'H' shaped Flapper silhoutte, as seen here on Carol Gracias, along with the Empire line. His silhouettes showed extremes - close fitted all the way or voluminous peasant sleeves, skirts and blouses - the latter reined in with a tight vest on occasion.

One of the highlights of the collections was the rich texturing and surface treatment for some of the garments - ruching, shredding, smocking to give new life to the fabrics.

The colour palette was muted as neutrals and pastels like pink, champagne, were enlivened by sudden bursts of bright cherry reds, golds and forest greens.

Embellishments were opulent as clear crystals, stones, polished pearls and 3D flowers gave the designer's high end prêt line called 'Rocky S Noir' that up market feel.

Hair styling included original 60s teen hair dos with lots of soft curls and fringes. A charming addition was the off-white flower detail which replaced ribbons and bows as hair fasteners.

Rocky's make-up story borrowed heavily from the Lolita look again with lots of pink on lips and fresh faces. The look was intended to be youthful and flirtatious and Rocky scored a perfect 10.

With inputs from www.rvgonline.com
Photos: Reuters, Rediff.com