A grand opening by Varun Bahl for DCW

New Delhi - Black is the colour of the season and that's what Varun Bahl showcased on the opening day of Delhi Couture Week Wednesday. Transparency, layering and handcrafted textures were the key elements that the designer chose to flaunt through his collection.

For the fall 2012-13 haute couture collection, Varun Bahl chose to go minimal with less focus on embroidery and more towards wearbilty.

"I attempted to merge the classic evergreen of old India with the outlook of modern Indian dressing tastes. People are wrong when they mix couture and bridal and that's what I wanted to focus on the collection," the designer said after the show.

What attracted everybody's attention was the use of black colour. His collection comprises of lots of lehangas, saris, anarkalis in the darker tones. The other key colours in the collection were cobalt to navy blues, olive, coral and reds.

The fabric varies from silk net, chiffon, silk velvet and multitude of hand-embroidery technique.

The show was jampacked with Varun's contemporaries giving full support, sitting in the front row. From Poonam Bhagat, Rohit Gandhi, Rahul Khanna, Manav Gangwani to celebrities like Sunanda Pushkar, Aman Ali Khan and buyer Alka Nishar, everyone was there to cheer him up.

When the collection was couture, the ramp needed to be different. The designer chose to transform the ramp into a courtyard with pillars at the back. The ambience was perfectly supported by background score that was a mix of thumping beats and soft music.

All in all, a nice show to start up the five-day fashion extravaganza.