ICW 2025: Steel-wire pallus, sheer shirts, and corsets. So many corsets

This past week, Delhi’s Taj Palace gleamed a little brighter—not because of the chandeliers (though they were on full blast), but thanks to the well-clad crowds of editors, influencers trailed by social media teams, and VIP guests of designers filtering in and out of the ballrooms, fully decked out for Hyundai India Couture Week 2025. The mood? Opulent, but also slightly restless (though maybe that had more to do with the shows starting on “IST” than on time). But with 14 shows on the calendar and enough sparkle to be seen from outer space, the week made one thing clear: Indian couture is at a crossroads.

If couture in India has long been synonymous with bridalwear, this season suggested that the orbit is expanding. The wedding market remains the beating heart of Indian fashion and commerce—estimates from KPMG and Jefferies place it between $50 billion and $130 billion annually—and many designers, including Falguni Shane Peacock, Tarun Tahiliani, and Suneet Varma continue to update what the Indian couture customer (often the modern bride and her extended entourage) craves: painstakingly crafted, heavily embroidered, opulently embellished lehengas, saris, and sherwanis.

But elsewhere, a different kind of Indian couture emerged. Designers like Amit Aggarwal, Rimzim Dadu, and Rahul Mishra—whose work often oscillates between the traditional and experimental—offered a broader vision and interpretation of Indian craft and imagination. Think sculpted metals, engineered textiles, and silhouettes that wouldn’t necessarily survive a sangeet but would thrive in a contemporary art gallery setting or a red carpet.

The week opened with Rahul Mishra, who brought back pieces from his fall 2025 Paris couture show and added more “festive” looks to the lineup: bundi jackets, trailing saris, and lehengas so intricately embroidered they may as well have come with a magnifying glass.

Over at Amit Aggarwal’s ‘Arcanum’, things took a different turn. His bulging, sculptural silhouettes, inspired by biology and crafted out of metallic polymer, felt like they had been dropped in from another planet. As the looks progressed, more shine emerged with a series of gowns in sheer, sparkling finishes, a reminder that the designer can balance glamour and drama with equal ease. Towards the end, a section on reimagining ikat felt particularly alive.

Meanwhile, Manish Malhotra skipped the runway entirely and hosted a cocktail evening and exhibition, complete with a performance by Jonita Gandhi and a much-anticipated ramp walk by Alessandra Ambrosio. Archival hits were on display, reminding everyone just how deep his roots in Bollywood glam run.

At Ritu Kumar, we witnessed a kind of modern boho-mehendi fever dream. There were mini bubble dresses, kaftan tunics, ponchos, printed leggings, velvet separates, and the odd corset thrown in for good measure. It felt like a Gen Z bride’s Pinterest board came to life—in the best way. If there’s such a thing as “resort couture”, this would be its most luxurious version yet.

Shantnu Nikhil, who often toe the line between structure and drapery, leaned heavily into tailoring this time: kick-flare trousers, sharp cropped jackets, ruffled collars, cummerbunds, and a sheer, embellished version of their signature draped kurta that somehow made transparency feel crisp.

Aisha Rao—the youngest designer on the roster at 34—delivered ‘Wild at Heart’, a maximalist ode to the wilderness. Blinged-out saris, lehengas paired with mini blouses and relaxed sleeveless tops, and a drop-waist gown with a mini veil were the highlights. There were corsets there too, of course.

Trying to compile a cohesive trend report would be an exercise in futility, but if one item truly dominated the week, it was the corset. Jayanti Reddy offered peplum versions. Roseroom by Isha Jajodia leaned into the bustier-as-eveningwear vibe. Ritu Kumar styled a waspie over a sheer shirt worn with a sari. And over at Rohit Bal, corsets with exposed boning lent a goth edge to an otherwise romantic collection.

Even designers known for more traditional fare are shifting the needle. “It’s much more complex,” says Tarun Tahiliani. “There’s this sense of luxury, refinement, of high craft being distilled. With couture you can think of anything, right? But the 99 per cent of the perspiration, the hard work, that has to follow the idea… We can actually do it now. We might not have been able to make this five years ago, but there’s a breakthrough in the embroidery, the lightness, and the draping.” The designer’s show in a cosy, salon-like setting was a celebration of his 30 years in the business and featured his distinctive pichwai-inspired embroideries on lightweight jackets and lehengas, goddess skirts covered in resham thread, and his signature pre-draped saris.

The biggest example of this kind of breakthrough in bridalwear was evident at Rimzim Dadu. The designer has long been known for her futuristic material play, and this season she returned with her signature steel-wire garments; here she was inspired by nomadic tribes. Her silver-grey harem pants made from ultra-fine steel threads were a standout, and her version of the pre-draped sari (the pallu constructed from a single sculptural panel) showed just how elastic the idea of Indianwear can be in the right hands.

Traditionally, couture is supposed to be about fantasy and craft—the kind that defies trends and ignores mass appeal while pushing the limits of what’s possible with fabric and form. The Indian wedding market remains a powerful force in the ecosystem, one that pushes designers to further their craft. But there’s now a growing space for designers who are choosing to approach couture through a different lens, one that’s more conceptual or personal. It may look, at first glance, like Indian couture is in the throes of an identity crisis. But maybe this isn’t confusion—it’s evolution.

Ultimately, India Couture Week 2025 gave us the full spectrum—from bridal bling to boundary-breaking. The shaadi set isn’t going anywhere, but there’s real excitement in the designers daring to step off the mandap.