Walk of all ages

Flowing lines, pastel shades and flowery spring motifs may have been the highlight of the Half Full Curve collection presented at the Lakme Fashion Week Summer Resort Collection, but that is not what drew every eye at the event. What held everyone’s attention were the models themselves — from 19-year-old Meghna Gupta to 81-year-old Asha Chopra. Each woman, irrespective of age, skin colour  or size, floated down the ramp with   panache shown by professionals, giving the audience something more to mull over than just cut and colour. 

Flushed with the success of her show, Rixi Bhatia, founder of Half Full Curve, the brand behind the fashion show, says that they wish to promote a fashion trend where one is not limited by age, body type or skin colour. “We are a body positive entity. We believe that whatever the body type, size, skin colour, you are gorgeous the way you are,” she exclaims.

The market for plus size women’s clothing is usually rather drab, with silhouettes hiding the body rather than flaunting it. “We’re saying, don’t do that — show off your body, show off your curves! Our entire collection is targeted to accentuate the curves in the right places. We have worked with 20 women of all ages, sizes, skin colours, professions and they were so supportive,” she says.

Looking like an angel in blue, Asha reveals that she is quite impressed with how far fashion has come. “Fashion is definitely more inclusive and much more diverse than it used to be,” she smiles.

Meghna adds that this will give other young girls some much-needed confidence. “A walk like this will have a major impact, especially on young girls like me, because seeing someone there who is your skin colour, who is your size — it’s extremely motivating. You’re not flooded with a particular cookie-cutter shape. So someone in the audience sees us and thinks ‘if she can do it so can I’. Even if you’re not walking the ramp, you have a sense of confidence,” she says.

Fashion designer Anupama Dayal, who commends the diverse fashion show, said that inclusive fashion is the need of the hour. “I applaud inclusivity of any sort. It is a lovely initiative because age is something that every women worries about,” she explains, adding, “I believe that you only gain elegance and confidence as you grow older. I believe that I am more confident in my own fashion statement today than I was when I was, say, 18 years old.”