Fashion,again

The veteran designers kept up the spirit of innovation started by the newbies. Racy reds and emerald greens zipped down the runway and the focus was on the cut and the silhouette,rather than surface embellishments.

Our trend-spotting antennae also zeroed in on plenty of layering in multi-patterned and multi-textured fabrics. Silks and georgettes entered the sartorial landscape with Nikasha Tawadey’s diaphanous creations with delicate floral patterns,inspired by the Far East and Nachiket Barve’s thin-as-tissue coats over wrap dresses. Barve’s colour palette remained as vivid as ever.

Labelled ‘Toxin’,and inspired by poison arrow frogs and sea anemones,the collection had all his favourite hues. But maybe the designer needs to step out of his comfort zone and offer us one of his eminently feminine creations in a pared down beige or white.

To our pleasant surprise,hardly any of the designers had the now mandatory celebrity showstopper. Even Manish Malhotra who was showing yet another bridal collection,only managed to get friends Kajol,Amrita Rao,Genelia D’Souza and Shabana Azmi on the front rows and not on the ramp.

Rumours from backstage have it that recession is forcing designers to cut this most unnecessary of costs,but we hope this will be a trend that lasts. It’s about time fashion,rather than glamour,was in the limelight.

Sunday’s menswear collections reinforced the fact that elegance never goes out of style. Whether it was Rohit and Abhishek’s continuing tribute to the macho man in breeches and earth tones,or Troy Costa’s debonair Havana look with skinny pants and silk shirts (think of Al Pacino in Scarface ) or Kunal Rawal’s hooded kurtas. There was a ruffianly insolence in Lecoanet Hemant’s zippered and sexy biker jackets. Digvijay Singh played up the unisex by combining tassels and pleats from the domain of women’s fashion with his tunic sherwanis and tie-up kurtas. Look out ladies,if we’re not careful,they’re soon going to be after lace and taffeta. Of all the recent ‘80s fashion comebacks,we wholeheartedly applaud the snood (recently showcased by Burberry in its wool and cashmere blended collection) brought to the fashion menu by Hemant.

But stealing the night’s thunder was Rocky S’ gothic,punk look with black eye makeup,gelled,porcupine hair and metallic chains and studded hand cuffs and belts. His beautifully tailored suits would make Bond go weak in the knees. And yes,we were shaken and stirred by the magnificent specimens of vampire models sashaying down the ramp.