Past Perfect

Of course,the true attraction of the evening was the line of purses that Varma had designed for Judith Leiber. The designer,in keeping with Leiber’s reputation,for sinfully opulent designs,went all out with crystal embellishments in the bags. The house gave a huge hand to the designer as he walked out at the end of his show,proudly holding up an SV monogrammed bag that Leiber had presented to him. Buddies Ravi Bajaj,Nandita Mahtani and Nisha Javeri even went so far as to give Varma a standing ovation. Well-deserved,we’d say.

Manav Gangwani’s show earlier in the evening saw Bollywood being represented in the front row. Raveena Tandon (scarlet lipped and scary in black) and Dia Mirza seem to have become a fixture at all the shows this time. We also spotted Soha Ali Khan,dressed in a knotted Gangwani churidar-kurta,accompanied by Kunal Khemu. Going by how joined-at-the-hip the two were,we’re sure they no longer expect us to believe they’re not a couple. As Zayed Khan was walking the ramp,we would’ve expected more representation from the Khan family—but sister Farah and mother Zarine,cheered loud enough for everyone.

The show itself had come as a pleasant surprise. While the designer still stuck to his favourite lehengas and Alexander McQueen-esque cholis,we were surprised by the minimal use of colour. Black and gold was the theme of the day,with an occasional blue or green thrown in. However,we still can’t say we were very enthusiastic about highly structured and stiff lehengas – the one with the cinched hem really baffled us. But what seemed completely out of sync was Gangwani’s choice of showstoppers—Zayed and Shruti Haasan. Given how the two have always striven to cultivate a ‘rock’ persona,it was a little disconcerting to see the two demurely dressed in trousseau wear.