One Ain’t Enough

New designers thronged the area. There was the prodigious Amber Feroz,who had left the backwater of Varanasi to saunter into the workshop of Armani Prive; there was the House of Three by NIFT alumnus Sounak Sen Barat who designs for corporate biggies like Pierre Cardin and Tommy Hilfiger when he is not looking after his own pret label; there was Norwegian designer Julie Skarland with what she calls her “in between spring and autumn collection”.

It was only fitting then that the opening show went to two youngsters who got a standing ovation at their debut in the same platform last year. Smita Singh Rathore and Himanshu Saini of CellDSGN 11.11,who had created immense buzz with their edgy,androgynous collection,took off from where they had left. With an interesting play on drapes,their collection collated the style forecasts of the season: minimal,utilitarian but chic. From tees to trousers,dresses and skirts,their variation of volume and flare was sophisticated,to say the least.

But nothing is good enough these days to get the biggies of Europe and the US to book a ticket to Delhi. The buyer buzz centres on the Middle East. “There have been inquiries from people from Bahrain and Riyadh. There seems to be a fair amount of representation from that area,” says Abhijeet Khanna of Risa,whose collection is peppered with Persian influences. Ah,the colour of riyals and dinars!