Friday, April 22 2005 18:00 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: AS by Ashish N Soni and Smita Soni's, "Sound of Silence" was a collection that was truly heavenly. Full of details and the multi layering of garments, it still had a real calmness to it. The collection was inspired by a fine art photographer Yoshimitsu Naga Saka's coffee table book. The books quiet beauty inspired designer Ashish. He translated this feeling with ease on the catwalk.

Over 50 garments took to the ramp, and there was a mix of men and women's clothes. Influences from the Victorian and Edwardian time were obvious with both men and women wearing gilets, puffball skirts, and Victorian looking underskirts and cravat looking ties around the neck. Off whites and faded black with mushroom browns were the main choices of colours.

Since many of the fabrics were enzyme treated, the whole look was natural and almost washed out. Cottons and voiles added to the naturalness feel though there was high performances synthetics- there so well mixed in, they did not detract from the natural feel that Ashish and Smita presented.

Layering was key, for instance a cotton satin kurta was worn with an overlap skirt, with detailing at the hem and a gilet under which there was cream churidar. Even with this layering nothing looked too complicated thanks to the voluminous silhouettes that Ashish and Smita seemed to favour. Skirts all had a billowing swirling look adding a sense of space to his designs. Suspenders picking up skirts from underneath added a coquettish flavour the voluminous skirts.

Though embellishment and beading were used on the occasional garment it was done so subtly that you hardly noticed any shine. Men shirts were left open to reveal knits and crochet t-shirts. The use of hakoba for both men and women added a dreamy element.

For men though, there were drawstrings and churidars. The preferred trouser was the very easy to wear kickboxing tie up pant. The gilet and tunic were his preferred upper wear for men. For women the puffball skirt, Empire line dresses and Edwardian jacket were the must haves for this designer duo. Separates styles in a layered manner were the call of the day for Ashish and Smita. Yet you could imagine each piece worn separately. Details around hemlines proved Ashish's well-known eye for detail. Ashish is equally known for his tailoring skills and this detail to finish proved this man is a skillful tailoring. A quiet and well thought collection - simple yet detailed.